A Metropolitan Police officer who used his work-issued mobile phone to send sexually suggestive messages to a woman he met while investigating her former partner has been sacked after a misconduct hearing revealed he had previously been disciplined for similar behaviour.
PC William Woolston was dismissed without notice after a disciplinary hearing found he had deliberately exploited the woman’s trust by contacting her for his own sexual gratification rather than legitimate policing purposes.
The officer had initially visited the woman’s home on June 18, 2025, while carrying out enquiries concerning her former partner.
He obtained her telephone number so he could provide further updates about the investigation.
But instead of restricting their conversations to police business, Woolston began sending flirtatious and sexualised messages through his Metropolitan Police-issued Android phone.
The inappropriate exchanges took place between June 27 and 28, 2025.
The woman, identified in the misconduct report as Miss A, eventually had to intervene and tell the officer to concentrate solely on matters relating to the police investigation.
The extraordinary case became even more damaging when the hearing revealed that Woolston had already faced misconduct proceedings over similar conduct in 2019.
On that occasion, he received a two-year written warning, which expired in 2024.
But despite that earlier disciplinary finding, he went on to engage in further inappropriate behaviour towards another member of the public.
Commander Stephen Clayman, who chaired the accelerated misconduct hearing, described the previous offence as a significant aggravating factor.
He said it demonstrated ‘a complete lack of insight’.
The hearing was told that Woolston had deliberately used information obtained during his police duties to pursue conversations unrelated to the investigation.
Commander Clayman concluded that the officer had abused the trust placed in him by the woman.
He stated that Woolston had ‘purposely and intentionally sent messages of a flirtatious/ sexualised nature to a member of the public that he had met in the course of his duties for his own sexual gratification’.
The hearing examined screenshots of the messages and body-worn video footage relating to Woolston’s original visit to the woman’s address.
The misconduct report does not reproduce the precise wording of the sexualised messages.
Nevertheless, Commander Clayman found the allegations proven in their entirety.
He ruled that Woolston had breached professional standards relating to Discreditable Conduct and Authority, Respect and Courtesy.
Both his culpability and the harm caused were assessed as high.
The hearing chairman said members of the public were entitled to expect officers to investigate complaints diligently rather than exploit the professional relationships created through their duties.
He also highlighted the potential damage to confidence in the Metropolitan Police, particularly following the murder of Sarah Everard, other high-profile police misconduct cases and Baroness Casey’s damning review of the force.
‘This is reprehensible behaviour,’ Commander Clayman declared.
Woolston did not attend the misconduct hearing, which was conducted in private on December 22, 2025.
He was represented by Police Federation representative Chris Brinsley.
His solicitors had indicated that he would not submit a formal response under Regulation 54, and the hearing proceeded in his absence.
No personal mitigation was advanced on his behalf.
Commander Clayman concluded that there were no mitigating factors capable of reducing the seriousness of the misconduct.
Under police disciplinary regulations introduced in May 2025, dismissal is the presumed outcome where gross misconduct is established unless exceptional circumstances justify a lesser sanction.
The hearing found no such circumstances.
The previous misconduct finding was especially damaging because it showed that Woolston had already been formally warned about similar behaviour.
He was dismissed without notice and ordered to be placed on the College of Policing’s barred list.
The decision brought his Metropolitan Police career to an end following the finding that he had again crossed professional boundaries with a woman he encountered through his policing duties.
Metropolitan Police Service
- Stats since 1st January 2022
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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.
