The vile messages uncovered by investigators were so graphic they cannot be reproduced.
A Metropolitan Police constable has been dismissed without notice after an internal misconduct panel found he engaged in sexually explicit conversations online which centred on the abuse of a child.
PC Grant Long was dismissed at an accelerated misconduct hearing held on 31 January 2025, chaired by Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, after investigators found he had used a messaging platform to discuss sexual activity with a man he believed to be the stepfather of a 10-year-old girl.
In reality, the “man” was an undercover officer from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit’s online investigations team. Evidence retrieved from Long’s own phone confirmed he had used an account in his own name to exchange explicit messages and to attempt to arrange a meeting.
The panel ruled that his conduct constituted gross misconduct and that anything short of dismissal would undermine public confidence in the police. Long, who did not attend the hearing or offer any mitigation, was found to have breached the Standard of Professional Behaviour relating to Discreditable Conduct.
Assistant Commissioner Taylor said the officer’s actions had caused “great harm to public trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police Service” and that the behaviour was “entirely incompatible with the role of a police officer.”
The chair described the offensive content of the messages as so disturbing it could not be shared publicly.
PC Long was dismissed without notice and will be placed on the College of Policing’s barred list, preventing him from ever serving in law enforcement again.
Metropolitan Police Service
- Stats since 1st January 2022
-
837 Misconduct Hearings
89% held in public
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS / "the Met") is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in Greater London, excluding the square mile of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police.
