The officer faces a misconduct hearing more than three years after the allegations were reported.
Until a month ago he was still serving with the force and was only taken off public-facing duties in March Both of the women who made complaints about him were given compensation after the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority ruled they had suffered abuse.
The male officer also had a relationship and moved in with another colleague, ‘Kate’, who says that over three years she was also raped and assaulted.
This included being “beaten up in my car” while it was parked on police premises.
“He started abusing me after four months of being together,” she says. “It progressed and progressed… he tried to kill me. He threw me against a chest of drawers in the bedroom.”
She says he then “ran” at her and “pinned me to the bed and strangled me”.
Soon after that Kate ended the relationship. She was put in touch with Holly by a mutual friend and quickly realised their experiences were a “carbon copy” of each other.
In 2017, they both reported allegations of physical and sexual assault. The male officer denied them and after an investigation by Essex Police, the Crown Prosecution Service decided in 2019 there was not enough evidence to prosecute.
“It was a really bad investigation,” marred by a lack of evidence gathering, according to Holly. She claims Essex Police “didn’t even finish taking all my allegations” and didn’t arrest the suspect.
Essex Police said it carried out lengthy investigations but accepts “there were areas for improvement in the management of these investigations”.
Asked why the male officer was not arrested, the force said: “There was no immediate safeguarding concern due to the non-recent nature of the allegations and the lack of contact between suspect and victims.”
The male officer has not responded to our request for comment.
Holly says she still lives in fear of meeting him at work.
The CICA findings prompted the Met to decide he would now face misconduct hearings, but have not yet set a date.
One of the complainants said this morning: ‘There was very little support, (it was) very poorly managed. He massively controlled everything. He had his friends. He was looked after, whereas we were just cast aside and not cared for.’
The Metropolitan Police has said in a statement that it takes ‘all allegations of domestic abuse extremely seriously’.
They say the police are also looking into if details of the women’s allegations were leaked to the accused officer.
One of them – who is being called Holly to protect her identity – was a junior member of staff when she started going out with the older policeman.
She said he became controlling and violent and dragged her by the hair to throw her against a dining room table and raped her on another occasion.
Holly said of one of the attacks: ‘I was saying, ‘please stop, you’re hurting me’.
‘It was an unbelievable amount of pain. I couldn’t get my breath.
The second woman, who is being referred to as Kate, who moved in with him and said during their three-year relationship had been assaulted and raped by him.
She added: ‘He started abusing me after four months of being together.
‘It progressed and progressed. He tried to kill me. He threw me against a chest of drawers in the bedroom.’
The two women discovered each other and how their alleged treatment had matched up and in 2017 made official complaints.
But he denied them and after a probe by Essex Police, the Crown Prosecution Service decided in 2019 there was not enough evidence to prosecute.
Holly claims the force did a ‘bad investigation’ and did not even arrest the suspect.
Essex Police said it accepted there were ‘areas for improvement’ adding ‘There was no immediate safeguarding concern due to the non-recent nature of the allegations and the lack of contact between suspect and victims.’
Last year the CICA awarded Holly £17,100 because ‘police evidence indicates that you were a victim of sexual abuse’.
CICA paid £11,600 to Kate, saying she had been raped and subjected to ‘serious physical abuse’.
The CICA does not need the same standard of proof as a criminal court.
The Met said: ‘We take all allegations of domestic abuse extremely seriously and it is right and proper that the full circumstances of this case should be considered at a hearing.
‘We continue to offer welfare support and assistance to the victims in this case.’
Solicitor Siobhan Crawford – who is not representing either women but is an expert in this area of law – said: ‘The investigation and the steps taken thereafter by the Met have been completely inadequate, woeful, and let these women down.’
‘It has taken just so long for the Met to take any action whatsoever against this person,’ she added. ‘And I think what that says to other victims of domestic violence is, ‘we say we’ll protect you but actually it will take years and it may all come to nothing’.’
Kate said: “I have no trust in the service I work for.”
Analysis Editor Harry Bolton
