A DISGRACED police officer who stalked a woman while on duty has been sacked.

PC Alexander Walsh, who was based in Brighton, this month pleaded guilty to stalking and assaulting his victim and was today dismissed by Sussex Police for gross misconduct.

Chief Constable Giles York chaired a disciplinary hearing at the force’s Lewes HQ and said Walsh showed “complete disregard and disrespect” for the public with his actions.

Walsh, of St Michael’s Place in Brighton, did not attend the hearing – and Mr York said this showed a “complete lack of respect for the force”.

Walsh appeared at Crawley Magistrates’ Court in April charged with sexual assault and stalking.

It was claimed he groped the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, during a night out.

He pleaded not guilty to the allegations and the case was sent to Portsmouth Crown Court at his request.

Guilty

Walsh, who was aged 33 at his first court appearance, instead pleaded guilty to common assault and stalking in Portsmouth on September 5. This was accepted by the court and the sexual assault charge was dropped.

He stalked her while both on and off duty, sending inappropriate texts and taking pictures of her without her consent between September and December 2017. He is due to be sentenced on October 12.

Mr York found Walsh guilty of two counts of gross misconduct in respect of discreditable conduct.

Let down

Detective Superintendent Steve Boniface, head of Sussex Police’s professional standards department, said: “We expect the highest possible standards of our officers and staff and we take any report of inappropriate behaviour extremely seriously. This officer’s behaviour was a violation of the trust that the public put in the police to serve and protect them.

“He has let down his colleagues who carry out an enormous amount of good work with victims of serious offences every day.

“He has let down Sussex Police and the people of Sussex.

“It is rare that such misconduct matters are also linked to incidents of a criminal nature, but it is entirely right that in circumstances such as this, they should be dealt with by the courts.”