A “misogynistic” sergeant has escaped a criminal conviction after ‘motorboating’ another police officer at a Christmas party.
Former PS Jason Knight, who had been based in Medway, walked up to the young woman, placed his hands on her breasts and put his face between them – leaving her “humiliated and upset”.
The “shocked” female constable, referred to as Officer A to protect her identity, phoned her partner to pick her up from the event.
But as she waited at the bar to be collected, Knight, who was buying a round for colleagues, said to her: “If you want a drink, show us your t*ts.”
The details have been revealed in a decision notice published this week following a police misconduct hearing.
It says the officer felt “unable to report it through peer pressure” after another constable told her not to say anything as Knight was a “good sergeant”.
And despite being near her colleagues when the motorboating incident happened, none of them reported witnessing it.
But Knight’s derogatory behaviour continued when, 18 months later, Officer A entered his office to use the phone to call another sergeant.
When she was asked for her details, Knight said: “Just search slutty [PC A], it will come up straight away.”
Knight, 43, was found to have committed gross misconduct by an independent panel last week, which said he would have been dismissed without notice had he still been a serving officer.
Kent Police says it received a report on June 7, 2023, that a woman had been sexually assaulted at a party in December 2021.
It adds officers carried out “a full and thorough investigation” and interviewed a man under caution as part of their investigation.
KentOnline can reveal the force submitted a case file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which ruled “it did not meet the evidential test for criminal prosecution” – meaning Knight escaped a conviction.
Last week, the independent panel, chaired by Chief Constable Tim Smith, heard how the former sergeant approached Officer A and referred to her as a “sl*t” or a “sl*g”.
“The sexualised comments he admits making confirm the former officer’s willingness to use offensive sexualised language,” the panel’s report says.
Despite Knight’s denials over the “motorboating” incident, the misconduct panel found as fact that the sergeant did do this to Officer A, which was a “deliberate sexual assault on her”.
“There can be no other sensible or rational explanation for his conduct,” it said.
“It was demeaning, offensive and shocking, and whether viewed objectively or subjectively, Officer A genuinely felt, and was entitled to feel, humiliated and upset.
“She explained to the panel her reaction at the time was not to make a fuss because she feels she is a strong person who could cope with something like this, whereas others might not, but she shouldn’t have to.”
There was some “concern” from the panel as to why no other officers at the social event apparently saw the motorboating incident when they “were obviously quite near to her when she says it happened”.
The panel also noted this was despite WhatsApp messages sent between other officers who had heard the derogatory comments made by Knight.
“These were consistent with Officer A’s explanation she and other officers came under pressure not to speak out because the former officer was ‘a good sergeant’,” the report states.
“The panel were concerned about this because it seemed likely one or two of them must have seen something untoward but that falls outside the panel’s remit for this hearing.”
KentOnline understands the victim reported being dissuaded by a single fellow officer, a constable, following the motorboating incident, but he no longer serves with Kent Police.
The force says no senior officers put the victim under any pressure to not report what happened.
Feeling Knight’s behaviour was “sexualised and unwelcome”, she told her partner about the incident and asked him to collect her from the party.
Knight then told her to “show us your t*ts”.
As his behaviour wasn’t reported at the time, he continued to serve as a sergeant.
But 18 months later, Knight directed unwanted sexualised comments at Officer A while on duty and it became clear he was “still behaving in a similar unacceptable way”.
Soon after the incident in his office in June 2023, with her colleagues’ help, Officer A reported she had been sexually assaulted at the Christmas party, as well as having sexualised comments made to her.
The panel “took no issue” with the delay in reporting the incidents which happened in December 2021.
Knight reportedly attempted to explain the comments he made to Officer A at the Christmas party and in his office as “close to the mark” humour or bad-taste jokes.
“If this is the way the former officer explains his conduct in a formal written document to the panel, then that raises concerns as to how he would behave whilst on duty,” the report said.
“The evidence suggests this is typical of his misogynist behaviour.”
The panel also says the sergeant had shown “no remorse or insight into his behaviour”, adding: “He appears to have no understanding of the consequences of his behaviour and the required standards of professional conduct reasonably to be expected of a sergeant, whether on or off duty.”
The sergeant, who did not attend the hearing, was found to have committed gross misconduct, while the panel says he would have been dismissed without notice had he still been serving. Knight’s name was also placed on the barred list.
Head of professional standards Det Ch Supt Jon Armory said: “All Kent Police officers and staff are expected to treat one another with respect and courtesy at all times, and anyone who fails to do so can expect to be held accountable for their actions.
“Former police sergeant Jason Knight’s behaviour towards a female colleague including unwanted sexual contact was wholly inappropriate and it is only right that he should now be prevented from ever working as a police officer again.
“His conduct fell far below the high standards expected of him by both Kent Police and the general public, and his actions do not reflect the majority of officers and staff who display exemplary professionalism at all times.”
The CPS has been approached for comment.
There have been several Kent Police sexual misconduct cases over the past year…
In February, KentOnline revealed a police sergeant caught naked near a children’s play park was spared a criminal conviction after prosecutors rejected appeals for him to face more serious charges. Pervert Simon Ince escaped with just a caution after he was spotted by shocked dog walkers loitering with no clothes on in woodland off Vale Drive in Chatham.
Another case concerned a Kent detective sergeant being sacked after sexually touching a junior female colleague twice – including inside a police station. Not only is Gary Stamp said to have groped the constable once while on duty, he tried to persuade her not to report his disturbing behaviour after she objected in 2020.
A high-ranking police inspector who got ”handsy” with two junior female officers at a work Christmas party was banned from the force. Inspector Steve Dunnett, who worked in north Kent and Sittingbourne, was seen to inappropriately touch younger colleagues while at an event at the ABode, a luxury 4-star hotel in Canterbury High Street.
Then a police inspector was dismissed from the force after being found guilty of assaulting a woman. James Beautridge was arrested and suspended from duty following the attack at a property in Maidstone.
