Met Police officer sacked after sexually assaulting child

A Met Police officer has been sacked after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a child.

PC Farhan Ghadiali, attached to the Central West Command, was found guilty of attacking a child aged under 13 at a party in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, on 22 September 2019.

He was convicted at Chelmsford Crown Court in March.

Ghadiali failed to attend a misconduct hearing in west London on Friday where he was dismissed without notice.

The former PC was suspended by the Met having been accused of sexually assaulting a child at the gathering while he was off duty.

He stood trial in May 2022 at Chelmsford Crown Court but the jury failed to reach a verdict.

He was then found guilty at a retrial at the same court this year.

The convicted officer, who is currently on bail, did not provide a statement to the Met Police hearing, nor was he represented.

The panel found his actions amounted to gross misconduct and he was dismissed.

Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gray, chairing the misconduct hearing, said Ghadiali abused his position of trust as a family friend to commit the assault.

"By committing a serious sexual offence, PC Ghadiali has clearly undermined trust in the police service and brought it into disrepute," she said.

"He abused the trust relationship he had with the family of the victim. They invited him to a party and he used that opportunity to sexually assault the victim."

She added that the former PC had "displayed malign intent for his own sexual gratification".

Ch Supt Louise Puddefoot, of the Central West Command Unit, said removing officers such as Ghadilai was essential to public trust in the force.

She said: "If the Met is to secure both the confidence and trust of the public we need to better protect our integrity by rooting out those that are not fit to serve, such as this individual who today has been dismissed.

"We are putting more resources into investigating allegations of such misconduct."

Ghadiali is due to be sentenced on 24 May.

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