A detective with the Metropolitan Police has been fired after he was found to have spent work hours writing graphic erotic stories on his issued laptop, blaming a lack of sufficient duties.
Gross Misconduct Hearing
Detective Constable Thomas Sewell admitted to the allegations during a misconduct hearing. The chair of the hearing, Commander Katie Lilburn, ruled that his actions constituted gross misconduct and dismissed him from the force without notice.
The hearing was told that Sewell used his downtime at work to author a first-person narrative. This story was found to contain what was described as deeply offensive language, which was misogynistic, aggressive, and sexually explicit in nature.
Deeply Offensive Content and Wikipedia Searches
An extract from one of his stories, titled 'White Male Juvenile', was shared during the proceedings. In it, the officer wrote: "Why bother trying to succeed in the male-dominated world, if you’re simply going to do what women claim they hate doing and objectify yourself, show off your assets, your physicality, advertise your attributes like there’s a f****** sale on for them at the moment."
In another passage, a character in the story referred to an individual experiencing a mental health crisis and contemplating suicide as 'pond scum'.
Beyond writing, Sewell also confessed to accessing Wikipedia during working hours. His searches included pages with erotic themes and explicit images, covering topics such as 'sex shows', 'pornography', and 'exhibitionism'.
Officer's Defence and Lack of Work
In his defence, DC Sewell claimed he turned to writing as a way of coping with trauma from a serious injury he sustained earlier in his career. He also stated that he was very sorry and disappointed by his actions.
At the time of the incidents, Sewell was working as a tutor training new detective recruits. A representative speaking on his behalf told the hearing that his team did not have enough work to do. This was attributed to fewer detectives being recruited than previously, which allegedly left him with significant downtime.
However, Commander Lilburn was unequivocal in her judgement. She stated: "The content is deeply offensive in that it is misogynistic as well as erotically explicit. DC Sewell admitted doing the writing during working hours so he cannot have been diligent in the exercise of his duties and responsibilities."
She further emphasised the severity, noting: "The misogynistic and sexualised comments in the documents is especially abhorrent because they were not just erotic but also specific to policing and misogynistic in a policing context."
