A serving Met Police officer broke lockdown restrictions to pay a woman for sex then hit her in the face and fled her home to avoid paying.

Ex-PC Hassan Mahmood went to a sex worker's home in 2021 while Covid pandemic tier rules were still in force.

The former officer, who was serving in the Met Police at the time, agreed to pay the woman - called 'Ms A' - £140 for "sexual relations".

But after they finished he snatched the money back and tried to leave her home in Mitcham, south west London, on 12 January, 2021.

Ms A tried to take the money back and there was a struggle, during which Mahmood hit her in the face and left just £40 behind.

During a recent misconduct hearing the panel heard how Mr Mahmood broke the then Covid restrictions banning indoor meeting with anyone outside your household.

The chair of the hearing said he would have been sacked for gross misconduct if he were still a serving officer.

He was accused of engaging in conduct that breached the Met Police's Standards of Professional Behaviour relating to discreditable conduct.

In the panel's ruling, the misconduct outcome report published this week, said: "The former PC [FPC] attended the home address of Ms A, a sex worker, for the purpose of engaging in sexual relations with her, including an extra service on January 12, 2021.

"They agreed the price of £140 for the services, and the FPC placed that amount in cash on a table.

"When the sexual activity concluded, the officer snatched the money that he had placed on the table and tried to leave the premises.

"There was then a struggle in which Ms A tried to recover the money from the FPC. The FPC lashed out with his hand towards Ms A and/or hit Ms A in the face.

"The FPC left the premises after leaving just £40 of the £140 that had been agreed.

"Against that background, the case is that the FPC's actions breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour and his attendance at Ms A's home address on January 12 2021 was in breach of the then Covid-19 restrictions."

The panel ruled Mr Mahmood would have been dismissed from the force if he had still been a serving police officer.

At City of London Magistrates' Court on February 21, Mahmood was fined £660 after pleading guilty to participating in a gathering of two or more people in breach of the Health Protection Regulations in a Tier 4 area.

Mahmood was based with the Met Police's South Area Basic Command Unit in south London but resigned in November 2021.

He will be put on the barred list held by the College of Policing, meaning he can never rejoin the police.

Anyone on the list cannot work for the police, local policing bodies (PCCs), the Independent Office for Police Conduct or Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.

Chief Superintendent Dave Stringer, the commander of local policing in south London, said after the misconduct hearing: "Mahmood's actions were completely unacceptable and the outcome of this hearing demonstrates that there is no place for such behaviour in the Met.

"The vast majority of officers get into policing to protect the most vulnerable people in society.

"Mahmood has let down his colleagues and the people of London who put their trust in us to keep them safe."