A detective with the Metropolitan Police has been dismissed from the force after a misconduct hearing found he spent work hours writing graphic erotic stories on his issued laptop.
‘Not enough to do’ led to explicit writing
Detective Constable Thomas Sewell admitted to the allegations, confessing that he used his significant downtime at work to author a first-person narrative filled with what the hearing described as "misogynistic, aggressive and sexual language."
The officer, who was serving as a tutor for newly recruited detectives, claimed his team did not have enough work, leading to the behaviour. An officer speaking on his behalf told the hearing, "His team did not have enough to do because there are fewer detectives recruited than previously and as a trainer this left him with significant downtime."
Deeply offensive content and trauma defence
During the proceedings, extracts from one of his stories, titled 'White Male Juvenile', were shared. In one passage, the narrative stated, "Why bother trying to succeed in the male-dominated world, if you're simply going to do what women claim they hate doing and objectify yourself... advertise your attributes like there's a f****** sale on for them at the moment."
Another section saw a character refer to an individual in a mental health crisis contemplating suicide as "pond scum." Commander Katie Lilburn, the chair of the misconduct hearing, ruled the content was "deeply offensive" and specifically abhorrent due to its policing context.
In his defence, DC Sewell stated he had been writing for years as a way to cope with a traumatic incident early in his career where he was seriously injured at a pub. The hearing was told "DC Sewell is very sorry and disappointed."
He also admitted to browsing Wikipedia during work hours, visiting pages with erotic themes and explicit images, including topics such as "sex shows", "pornography" and "exhibitionism."
Dismissal for gross misconduct
Commander Lilburn concluded that his actions constituted gross misconduct. She stated, "DC Sewell admitted doing the writing during working hours so he cannot have been diligent in the exercise of his duties and responsibilities."
She emphasised that the "misogynistic and sexualised comments in the documents is especially abhorrent because they were not just erotic but also specific to policing." As a result, DC Sewell was dismissed from the force without notice.
