A Metropolitan Police officer has been dismissed and permanently barred from working in policing after punching a man he was arresting and then deliberately omitting the use of force from his official statement to conceal what had happened.
PC Peter Odusote, attached to the Central West Basic Command Unit, was found to have breached professional standards relating to use of force and honesty and integrity at a misconduct hearing that concluded on Thursday 26 February.
The panel heard that on 15 August 2023, PC Odusote detained a man who had been committing criminal damage to a police car outside Charing Cross police station. During the arrest the man spat at the officer, at which point PC Odusote punched him in the face. The panel found the force used was excessive in the circumstances.
Having used the punch, PC Odusote then failed to record it in his subsequent statement, a deliberate omission the panel determined was intended to hide what had occurred.
Superintendent Owen Renowden said the officer’s actions had fallen below the standard expected of Met officers and that it was right he had been held to account.
As a result of his dismissal, PC Odusote has been added to the College of Policing’s barred list, which prevents him from being employed by any police force, local policing body, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, or His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.
