Met Police: PC Adnan Arib guilty of misconduct over contact with girls

A Met Police officer who met a 15-year-old girl alone in a park and sent a 16-year-old girl dozens of text messages has been found guilty of misconduct in a public office.

PC Adnan Arib, 45, continued contact with both girls after meeting them while on duty, invited them both out and told another she was "very pretty".

The officer was based at Bethnal Green police station, in east London.

He told Southwark Crown Court he had only wanted to give "careers advice".

A jury convicted Arib, who will be sentenced on 3 March, of two counts of misconduct in a public office.

Jurors heard he continued contact with the 15-year-old after first being called to the girl's flat by her mother, who had accused her of stealing £10, in July 2019.

During a conversation in the teenager's bedroom, Arib asked the girl to write her phone number, name and other details on a piece of paper, the court was told.

He arranged to meet her in the park, the trial heard, and when the girl did not show up after school, Arib had texted her to remind her of the appointment and then they had met.

He then asked her if she had a boyfriend and suggested taking her out for a drink, which made the 15-year-old feel "uncomfortable", prosecutors told the trial.

He also asked the 16-year-old girl for her phone number and if she was in a relationship, and said she was "very pretty" and that he wanted to take her out, prosecutors said.

Arib invited her out after she had been brought into Bethnal Green police station following her being reported as a missing person, the court was told.

The officer accessed a police report about her and officers later found 47 text messages had been sent between them on a phone that he initially tried to deny was his.

He told jurors he had been "naive and foolish" but said he believed offering careers guidance to the two girls was part of his wider policing duties.