Indian-origin Scotland Yard officer convicted of sexual assault of colleague

London: An Indian-origin Scotland Yard police officer has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a colleague while on duty and will be sentenced for the crime on May 5.

Police Constable (PC) Archit Sharma was attached to London's North Area Basic Command Unit of the Metropolitan Police and was suspended from duty after he was charged in July 2021. He now faces further misconduct proceedings within the UK’s largest police force after the criminal proceedings concluded with a trial at Wood Green Crown Court in London on Monday. The trial followed an allegation in December 2020 that Sharma had sexually assaulted a colleague while they were both were on duty.

"I am furious that an officer has behaved in such a grossly unacceptable way. In doing what he did, PC Sharma totally betrayed all the values of policing,” said Met Police Detective Chief Superintendent Caroline Haines, responsible for local policing in Enfield and Haringey area of London.

"I hope that this outcome demonstrates that we will treat reports of sexual assault with the utmost seriousness, wherever they occur and whoever is responsible. I applaud the bravery of this officer in coming forward in the way they did,” she said.