Disgraced cop who quit over dominatrix vampire sex unleashed torrent of homophobic and racist abuse at ‘vulnerable’ officer
A Metropolitan Police officer. (Dan Kitwood/ Getty)
A senior detective for the Metropolitan Police that quit after having sex with a vampire-loving “dominatrix” unleashed a torrent of racist, homophobic and sexist language in texts and conversations, an investigation found.
Stephen Redgewell was a former deputy sergeant at London’s law enforcement agency who resigned in 2018 when it emerged he had kinky trysts in the headquarters of an association which represents rank-and-file officers, The Daily Mail reported.
He reportedly showered Denise Pearce with gifts, including a skull ring. The pair fell out, however, when he declined to leave his family home to marry her at Dracula’s Castle in Romania – she had even picked a black dress for the wedding, she claimed.
But had he not resigned, the now 54-year-old would have been dismissed for gross misconduct, an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) misconduct panel concluded in a hearing Wednesday (16 December).
Between October 2015 and September 2017, Redgewell was found by the police watchdog to have sent 2,000 text messages to a colleague, including sexual images and calling her an “Asian babe”, in what the hearing described as “predatory” behaviour.
He implored her to leave her husband, the texts showed, as well as countless others “categorised as antisemitic, racist, homophobic and sexist”.
If Redgewell were still a serving police officer, the texts would be a sackable offence, the IOPC said.
“These breaches were so serious we note the panel would have dismissed him without notice had he still been a serving officer and he will now be placed on the barred list,” said IOPC regional director for London Sal Naseem in the report.
The IOPC also sent out a raft of written warnings to five other Met officers who “sent racist, misogynistic and homophobic text messages “, it said in a report published the same day. The officers made jokes cracked jokes “about rape, paedophilia, racism and homophobia”.
Disgraced vampire sex cop denounced after sending slew of homophobic texts
Redgewell represented the woman through his stint as deputy general secretary and treasurer of the Metropolitan Police Federation Representative. The cop, described by the IOPC as “vulnerable”, was suffering PTSD after being involved in an undercover operation.
His actions were denounced by Met chiefs are “offensive” and “unacceptable” in a news release published Thursday (17 December).
Commander Paul Betts, of the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, said: “The actions of former DS Redgewell fell well below the standards expected by the Met and the public we serve.
“He abused his position as a federation representative to pursue a relationship with a female officer, who he was assisting with a work issue. This unacceptable behaviour was compounded by the fact DS Redgewell knew the woman was vulnerable at the time.
“The language used in text messages and conversations over the period of this relationship were also extremely offensive and have absolutely no place in the Metropolitan Police.
“The Met has a zero-tolerance policy for any behaviour that is racist, sexist or homophobic and it is right DS Redgewell would have been dismissed without notice if he had still been a serving officer.”
Redgewell quit the force after it emerged he had sex with “dominatrix” at the office of the Metropolitan Police Federation in Bromley, South London.
