North Yorkshire Police officer sacked after hotel sex assault

PC Joseph McCabe was dismissed for gross misconduct, following a disciplinary hearing at the force’s headquarters in Northallerton.

It comes after the 27-year-old was convicted of one count of sexual assault at York Magistrates Court.

The court heard the off-duty officer assaulted the woman while they were sharing a room in the Travelodge hotel at Scotch Corner, following a wedding in August 2021.

During the night he picked the woman up, put her on his bed and stroked her arm. When she got back into her own bed, he pulled her out by her hair and then shouted at her.

The officer, based in Harrogate, denied sexual assault but was found guilty during a trial.

In March, he was given a six-month prison sentence, which was suspended for two years, hit with a three-year restraining order and ordered to complete a rehabilitation programme.

The three-person panel which conducted the officer’s disciplinary hearing ruled “the only appropriate outcome is one of dismissal without notice”.

The panel’s ruling stated: “No lesser alternative adequately protects public confidence in the police service, upholds standards in policing and protects the public.”

It added: “Given his role as a police officer and his knowledge of the serious nature of violence against women and girls and the national focus on eradicating such behaviour from policing and society, he must have been fully aware of the totally inappropriate nature of his behaviour.”

After McCabe was sentenced, Deputy Chief Constable Mabs Hussain described his actions as “disgraceful” and said “there is no place for this behaviour in policing”.