Met Police: Sgt Paul Storey found to have raped two women

A Met Police sergeant has been found to have raped two women but will not be charged with any crime.

Paul Storey grabbed one of the women by the throat, dragged her down the stairs and threw her on to a table, a tribunal heard.

The officer hit the second victim with a whisky bottle, threw her against a doorframe and a chest of drawers, a Met misconduct panel was told.

He was allowed to serve at the Met until last year before resigning.

On Monday, the panel concluded he raped and assaulted both women in incidents between 2012 and 2017.

It found him guilty of gross misconduct and barred him from serving in the Met or any other police force in the future.

Former Sgt Storey was given anonymity for the duration of the hearing but named after the matters were found proven.

Ch Supt Stuart Bell described his behaviour as "abhorrent".

"He subjected two women known to him to a number of sexual and physical assaults as well as coercive and controlling behaviour," Ch Supt Bell said.

"It is hardly necessary for me to say that his behaviour has fallen very far below what we expect of our police officers.

"This type of abuse has a lasting and significant impact on victims and we take all allegations extremely seriously."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said that in November 2018 Essex Police provided the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) with a file of evidence.

In March 2020, a final decision not to charge the officer was made.

The Met, which had been aware of the allegations since 2017, waited a further nine months before its Directorate of Professional Standards concluded there was a case to answer for gross misconduct.

Former Sgt Storey resigned and left the Met in May of last year.

A CPS spokeswoman said: "Following a decision by the CPS that our legal test was not met to charge the suspect with rape or assault, the two complainants each requested a review.

"This was carried out under our Victims' Rights to Review scheme by a prosecutor with no previous involvement in the case and the original decision was upheld.

"We explained our reasoning in detail to the complainants and that our role is to make independent and fair decisions based on the evidence."

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk