A married Metropolitan Police officer has been dismissed from the force after groping a female colleague's bottom multiple times at a work Christmas party, a misconduct hearing has determined.
Pc Kevin Beedel, who claimed he was 'just being friendly', persistently touched the officer despite being warned to stop, the panel was told.
The female officer, identified only as Pc A, did not report the incident at the time because she feared it would be 'brushed under the carpet' and could harm her career.
She described a 'laddish culture' within their Metropolitan Police team, where sexual innuendos were made about female officers.
A damning 2023 review by Baroness Louise Casey found the force to be institutionally misogynistic, and Scotland Yard has pledged to expel wrongdoers.
Pc A told the misconduct panel that during a 2018 team Christmas party at a venue in Hertfordshire, she was standing at a casino table with Pc Beedel when she 'felt a hand on her left bottom cheek'.
She was 'shocked' and turned to see his hand on her bottom. She told him: 'Don't do that', to which he replied: 'I'm just being friendly', the panel heard.
The officer removed his hand several times but he kept putting it back. She was particularly shocked because Pc Beedel had recently married.
She later moved around the casino table to get away from him. Pc A described seeing a group of male colleagues behind her at the bar, one with his phone out, laughing. When she asked what they were doing, they tried to hide the phone.
The officer was 'very upset' that her team did not intervene. 'The fact that no one did anything was an added layer of upset and surprise for her,' the panel said.
Pc Beedel denied sexually assaulting Pc A, saying he was '100 per cent sure of this because it is something that he would never do'. He claimed witnesses 'may have seen things from the wrong angle and from a distance, especially in a dimly lit and large venue'.
Pc A did not report the incident at the time because 'there was a laddish culture on the team' and she feared being ostracised. She felt reporting it 'would get brushed under the carpet' and could affect her career.
The panel also heard that before the incident, Pc Beedel liked old photos of Pc A on Instagram, including pictures in bikinis, which she found 'sinister'.
The panel found the allegations proven, concluding that Pc Beedel harassed and caused distress and embarrassment to Pc A. The touching 'was not horseplay, and was done in pursuit of sexual gratification'.
Pc Beedel's actions breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour, and he was dismissed from the force.
