Ex-London Cop Accused Of Hiring Sex Workers, Accessing Porn Sites During Duty Hours: Here's What Happened Next

In a shocking revelation to have triggered renewed outrage over the alleged "toxic and misogynistic culture" in Britain's biggest police force, former Metropolitan Police officer Imran Patel has been accused of engaging with sex workers while on duty and accessing adult websites.

According to The Guardian, Patel joined in 2022 and has been accused of abusing his position during working hours. His actions came in question amid an ongoing probe into behavioral standards within the Metropolitan Police, which had been under fire over its system issues of sexism and misconduct.

Officer Resigned Amidst Misconduct Allegations

Imran Patel resigned from the force in 2024 after several complaints were made about his professional conduct in the first nine months of service and an investigation into fraud. Authorities have since said he would not face any criminal charges over the matter.

But the most recent claims, regarding his frequenting of sex workers and accessing explicit websites while on shift in May 2022, have fired up the debate about accountability within the force anew.

Louise Casey's Scathing Report on Met's Culture

The case was exposed during an independent review headed by the former senior civil servant Baroness Louise Casey, commissioned by London Mayor Sadiq Khan in the wake of the appalling murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.

In a 2023 report, Casey termed the Metropolitan Police "institutionally misogynistic" for widespread sexism and failures of leadership. She revealed that one-third of female officers reported experience of sexism at work, while 12 percent had faced sexual harassment or assault from colleagues. "Despite some progress on gender representation, women are still not treated as equals," said Casey, adding that "the culture of denial and defensiveness" enabled discriminatory behavior to be perpetrated for decades.

These are not the first such allegations. An investigation in 2022 by the Independent Office for Police Conduct found that officers working at Charing Cross Police Station exchanged disturbing messages joking about rape and visiting sex workers.

More recently, a BBC Panorama undercover investigation filmed a sergeant openly boasting of his sexual exploits in front of colleagues, underlining claims that a sexist culture is still deeply ingrained in some divisions.

Growing Calls For Reform

The revelations over Imran Patel have led to fresh demands for root-and-branch reform at the Met. Women's rights campaigners and politicians have called for stricter vetting, closer internal scrutiny, and harsher discipline for serving officers accused of misconduct.

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The Metropolitan Police has so far not officially commented on Patel's case. But earlier, the police officials promised to "root out predatory officers" and restore confidence among the public after years of scandals involving serving members.

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With increased scrutiny, questions remain over how such behavior was allowed to persist, undetected, within a force tasked with protecting the public, and what steps will finally ensure accountability in Britain's most powerful police institution.