A Metropolitan Police officer has been dismissed without notice following his conviction for sexual assault at an accelerated misconduct hearing. Detective Constable Jose Poonsawat, who was attached to the Central South Command Unit, appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 12 July, where he pleaded guilty to the charge of sexual assault.
The charge stemmed from an off-duty incident on 16 December 2022, in which DC Poonsawat was accused of sexually touching a woman without her consent. The investigation was conducted by officers from Bromley and the Met’s Domestic Abuse and Sexual Offences team, which operates within the Directorate of Professional Standards.
After pleading guilty, DC Poonsawat was released on bail to await sentencing. On Friday, 23 August, he was sentenced to a high-level community order for six months, with a four-month curfew and electronic tagging. Additionally, he was ordered to pay £199 in court costs.
During the investigation, DC Poonsawat was initially placed on restricted duties before being suspended in July. At the misconduct hearing on Tuesday, 20 August, Assistant Commissioner Pippa Mills, who chaired the proceedings, determined that DC Poonsawat had breached the standards of discreditable conduct at the level of gross misconduct, leading to his dismissal without notice.
Detective Superintendent Vanessa Britton, acting commander for policing in Lambeth and Southwark, praised the courage of the victim in coming forward. My thoughts are with the victim who has displayed courage in reporting this sexual assault,” she said. “Officers are quite rightly held to account for wrongdoing by the courts. In this case, DC Poonsawat has been held accountable by both the courts and the Met’s rigorous misconduct process. He has no place in the Met and has been rightly dismissed.”
Following his dismissal, DC Poonsawat will be placed on the barred list maintained by the College of Policing. This means he is prohibited from being employed by police forces, local policing bodies, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, or His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.
The case highlights the Metropolitan Police’s commitment to holding officers accountable for misconduct, particularly in cases involving sexual offences.
