Met officer sacked after sending 1,000 text messages to ex-girlfriend – South London News

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A I met the police The officer who sent 1,000 text messages to his ex-girlfriend in three weeks has been fired.

PC Joshua Anning bombarded an ex-girlfriend with texts despite asking her to stop.

He also turned up uninvited at her work event and turned up at the local train station, a hybrid misconduct hearing at Sutton police station on June 19.

After calling police about his behavior in March this year, PC Anning was charged with controlling and coercive behavior and bailed.

The charges were later dropped and he pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of harassment at Kingston Crown Court on April 12.

At a sentencing hearing at the same court on May 31, he was handed a 12-month community order and told to complete unpaid work and rehab.

In a victim impact statement, his ex-girlfriend said she believed she tolerated PC Anning’s behavior more than she should have because he was a member of the police. She described how she felt “harassed” during their relationship and said her professional life was “disrupted” by his behaviour.

PC Anning, who was based at the Met’s Central South Command Unit, which covers Lambeth and Southwark, said emotional problems had clouded his better judgement.

Pippa Mills, assistant commissioner and chair of the misconduct hearing, said PC Anning’s conduct amounted to serious misconduct and risked undermining public confidence in the police service.

She said: “It is completely unacceptable for a police officer to break the law and in doing so the public trust may be involved. In terms of aggravating factors, his actions were directed at the applicant over a sustained period of time.

“I believe that anything less than dismissal would not deter others from similar behaviour. As such, it is my decision that PC Anning be dismissed without notice.”

PC Anning was absent from the hearing and had informed the Met in advance that he would not be attending.

Pictured above: The hearing of PC Joshua Anning took place at Sutton Police Station (Image: Google Street View)

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