A Leicestershire police constable has been dismissed after a gross misconduct hearing found that he breached the standards of professional behaviour during a sexually-motivated attack which involved biting a woman ‘between her legs.’
The hearing found that Police Constable Jake Cooke-Wilkinson’s conduct with a woman he met in a bar in the Leamington Spa area on the evening of 27 August 2022 was sexually inappropriate.
The hearing was told the woman – referred to only as Miss A – went back to the officer’s house but made it clear she did not want sex.
However, the panel heard the officer told her he was “turned on” by her “pretending” she did not want to have sex.
He then asked to be bitten, admitting that he “got gratification from giving and receiving pain”.
After touching her body, Mr Cooke-Wilkinson picked up Miss A, threw her on to a bed and pinned her down.
He then grabbed her chest and “bit her between her legs, over her clothing”, before biting her “repeatedly on her left shoulder, bruising her”.
Miss A eventually pretended to fall asleep and later reported the attack after colleagues she had told urged her to.
It was found that his behaviour breached the standards of professional behaviour, namely: discreditable conduct; and, authority, respect and courtesy.
The panel concluded that the proven conduct amounted to gross misconduct and determined that in all the circumstances, the appropriate outcome was dismissal without notice.
Detective Superintendent Rich Ward, Head of Professional Standards, said: “The panel found that the behaviour and actions of former PC Cooke-Wilkinson showed little or no regard as to whether consent was being given for sexual contact.
“We take any report of this nature extremely seriously. This behaviour is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated by us in force.
“Building and maintaining trust and confidence in our force remains a priority. We continue to challenge any unacceptable behaviour which does not meet the professional standards which are rightly expected of us.”
