Overview
- A disciplinary hearing chaired by Commander Andy Brittain found Detective Inspector Ben Coogan guilty of gross misconduct and dismissed him from the Metropolitan Police in April.
- Five sexually explicit images of a lower-ranking female colleague were found on force-issued phones during a routine device audit.
- The images were taken on two separate phones between May and July 2025, according to the hearing record.
- Coogan told the panel the pictures were sent consensually, that he used work phones to view them intending to delete them, and that he had lost his first phone which held four images.
- The panel said the case highlights data-security risks from mixing personal sexual material with policing information and warned the conduct harmed the sender and the force’s reputation, leading to Coogan being barred from rejoining the Met.