A Met Police officer who told a junior colleague he wanted to squeeze her breasts and sent another a message saying he wanted to ‘lick’ her ‘an*s’ has escaped the sack.
PC David Seager also asked ‘intrusive and prurient questions’ about two junior officers’ relationship, a police misconduct hearing on Wednesday (February 7) heard.
PC Seager, who joined the Met in 2016 and was based at Lewisham Police Station, was handed a final written warning lasting five years by a misconduct panel sitting at Palestra House in Southwark, South London.
The hearing detailed how Seager approached a junior officer and said “your tits look amazing” during the first incident in June 2020.
He then placed a hand in front of the officer’s breasts and told her “I would like to squeeze them”.
PC Seager denied the incident, but the panel described the female officer as a ‘credible witness’ and found the allegation on balance proven.
In the second incident in November 2021, PC Seager sent a message to another colleague via Whatsapp saying ‘haha I want to lick your an*s’.
Catherine Elliot, chair of the misconduct panel, branded the message ‘disrespectful’ and ‘ill judged.’
She added that the message had come ‘out of the blue’ and had ‘shocked’ the officer who received it.
PC Seager was also found to have asked inappropriate questions to the junior officer involved in the first incident and her partner, who also worked for the Met in a subordinate role at the time, about their physical relationship.
Seager insisted his questions were never about their sex lives and the couple didn’t complain about his behaviour at the time.
Despite this, the panel found the allegation on balance proven.
The panel also accepted that Seager’s conduct was ‘aggravated’ because he was in a senior position compared to the couple at the time of the incidents.
A fifth allegation relating to alleged inappropriate comments made by Seager to one of the junior officers was found unproven by the panel.
PC Seager told the panel he loved his job and had respect and consideration for people’s protected characteristics.
He said: “All my partners in my adult life have been non-white. I embrace equality.
“I’ve never had more fun than I have serving for the Met. I’ve seen myself as a guiding light for the Met. I’ve had rows with people about how the Met is. I have always defended the Met.”
He added: “I have never had a complaint in my whole service by a member of the public because I humanise them.
"I am happy to have a cup of tea with someone and I don’t care about the pressure of the call list because we are humans.”
In 2020, PC Seager was branded ‘heroic’ by the Met after he entered a burning building and rescued a person inside while out on a call in Lewisham.
He was treated by paramedics at the scene of the blaze for smoke inhalation.
Catherine Elliot, on request, didn’t read out the full explanation of the misconduct panel’s decision.
A complete written outcome will be published by the Met at a later date.
Announcing the panel’s decision at Palestra House on Wednesday, she said: “We have arrived at the conclusion that in this case a final written warning for the full period of five years [will be sufficient].”
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