Met Police officer AirDropped explicit messages to passengers on c2c train

A serving police officer AirDropped sexually explicit messages to passengers on a c2c train. PC Luke Stokes was also found to have sent an unwanted sexually explicit personal image to a female colleague.

PC Stokes, previously attached to the Met Police’s MO6 public order planning, would have been dismissed without notice if he was still serving. Stokes resigned from the Met in March this year.

He was arrested by officers from the British Transport Police on April 13, 2022 after a passenger reported he had sent a sexually explicit note via AirDrop while on a c2c train - which travel to and from Essex and London - on April 9. During his interview with detectives from BTP it was found he had carried out a factory reset on his phone.

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The incident was investigated by BTP and a file was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service in November 2022. The CPS determined that it did not meet the threshold to bring a prosecution and no further criminal action would be taken.

After learning of this incident, a female colleague reported that former officer Stokes had sent an unwanted sexually explicit personal image to her in 2020. A voluntary interview under caution was carried out in May 2022. No further action was taken after it was determined the matter did not reach the evidentiary threshold for criminal charges to be brought.

Chief Superintendent Joseph McDonald, of the Met's Public Order Planning team, said: “It is quite clear that this former officer’s actions fell way below the standard rightly expected of a police officer. Not only did he send sexual messages to strangers, he tried to cover his tracks and then lie about it to fellow officers. There is no place in the Met for people who think such behaviour is acceptable.”

Stokes will now be added to the Barred List held by the College of Policing. Those appearing on the list cannot be employed by police, local policing bodies (PCCs), the Independent Office for Police Conduct or His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.