Sgt Paul Storey: Met Police officer found by tribunal to have raped two women - but will not be prosecuted

A Met Police sergeant has been found to have raped two female colleagues by a tribunal - but will not be charged with any crime.

Sgt Paul Storey - who policed Redbridge and Havering - abused the two women in “every way possible” in incidents between 2012 and 2017, Monday’s disciplinary panel heard.

During one violent assault, Storey’s neighbour heard him throw one of his victims down the stairs and called the police, fearing she had been killed.

The second woman recounted a number of violent episodes in which he grabbed her by the neck and pushed or threw her.

He also clubbed her around the head with a whisky bottle.

Despite both women reporting him to the police in 2017, there are no plans to prosecute him for any crime.

In November 2018, Essex Police provided the Crown Prosecution Service with a file of evidence, but it was not until March 2020 that a final decision not to charge him was made.

He remained on on “restricted duties” until he retired last year, four months before his first disciplinary hearing was due to begin.

Following the 11-day hearing, he was found proven of gross misconduct and would have been dismissed without notice if he not quit the force.

Police kept former Sgt Storey’s identity hidden for the duration of the hearing, but released his name the allegations were proven.

Delivering the panel’s findings, legally qualified chair Eileen Herlihy said the accounts of both women were “remarkably similar” and “among the most serious this panel has collectively heard”.

The panel heard testimony from one victim that Sgt Storey abused her “physically, sexually, mentally and financially”, causing her to lose a stone and a half and her hair to fall out.

Both women told the panel that the former officer was a “sex maniac” who used demeaning and misogynistic language, including telling one he had sex with her from behind “so I do not have to look at your ugly f***ing face”.

During one incident in mid-2017, she said Sgt Storey grabbed her by the throat and threw her so hard against a door frame that she had difficulty breathing.

The panel also heard he controlled both women’s day-to-day life, limiting their contact with friends and social media use.

They said he left them with debt from car loans they had taken out for him due to his poor borrowing history.

During the two weeks of hearings, Sgt Storey denied the women’s accounts, claimed he had never been violent, and alleged that they had “conspired” against him.

But panel chair Herlihy said he failed to provide “any credible motive” for the women making false allegations.

The panel found the allegations to be true, “on the balance of probabilities,” after seeing photographic evidence of injuries and hearing from both women, fellow officers they confided in at the time and his neighbours.

After the panel found most of the gross misconduct allegations proven, Andrew Waters, representing the police, called Sgt Storey’s conduct “vile abuse”.

He said: “The impact on both women was extreme, both suffered marked deterioration of their mental health as a result of his actions.

“His behaviour was compounded by dishonest actions during proceedings, marked by a failure to take account for his actions.

“As a result both women had to relive the suffering they had at his hands during their days of evidence last week.”

Former Sgt Storey has never been charged with any criminal offence relating to his conduct towards the two women, although they reported him to the police in late 2017.

Despite the Met being aware of the allegations since then, its Directorate of Professional Standards waited a further nine months to conclude there was a case to answer for gross misconduct.

He was the Havering Police’s mental health lead throughout the time the abuse was being carried out, the Romford Recorder reported.

A Met spokesperson said Storey had been on “restricted duties” in a non-public facing role following the 2017 allegations, until he retired four months before his first disciplinary hearing was first scheduled in September 2021.

The spokesperson added: “A hearing date was expedited as quickly as possible based on the availability of all parties.

“There can be complexities around arranging misconduct hearings, both in terms of logistical arrangements and ensuring all available evidence and information is obtained to ensure a fair hearing.

“We recognise the impact awaiting proceedings can have on all parties and always strive to bring matters to as swift a conclusion as possible.”

Area commander Ch Supt Stuart Bell said: “The behaviour of former Sgt Paul Storey is abhorrent.

“He subjected two women known to him to a number of sexual and physical assaults as well as coercive and controlling behaviour.

“It is hardly necessary for me to say that his behaviour has fallen very far below what we expect of our police officers.

“This type of abuse has a lasting and significant impact on victims and we take all allegations extremely seriously.

“We know it is really shocking to hear a police officer is capable of carrying out such behaviour and as part of work to rebuild the trust Londoners have in us, we have created a new dedicated team focused on investigating allegations of sexual misconduct as well as domestic abuse involving our officers and staff.

“This team improves our ability to identify patterns of concerning behaviour.

“While we’re working really hard on this, it will be of little consolation to the women former Sgt Storey abused and our thoughts are with them.”

Former Sgt Storey has been added to the barred list held by the College of Policing.

This means he cannot be employed by police, local policing bodies (PCCs), the Independent Office for Police Conduct or Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.