Met Police officer faces jail after using CCTV cameras to stalk his ex-girlfriend

A Metropolitan Police officer who used CCTV cameras to stalk his ex-partner after she ended their relationship is facing a possible jail term.

PC Jonathan Simon, 44, sent the woman unsolicited messages using withheld numbers and suggested she should become a sex worker, a court was told.  

Simon, from Colchester in Essex, met the woman when he was called to her address after a neighbour dispute on May 17, 2021 – before they ‘became intimate’ that evening.

A relationship started but the woman ended it because she thought Simon only wanted her for sex, the court heard. 

Simon then watched his victim on CCTV when she picked her children up from school, turned up at her address uninvited and went to her home with his colleague. He denied but was convicted of stalking.

PC Jonathan Simon walks outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court on October 6 last year

Prosecutor Harry MacDonald told Westminster Magistrates’ Court: ‘The officer was in a position of trust as a responder and investigator. This defendant then manufactured reasons to returned to the victim’s address later on in the day. He did so twice and was alone.

‘His final attendance was late in the evening, and he was let in by the victim. They initially discussed her complaint, before discussing her feelings more generally, where she confided in the defendant about her distresses and difficulties.

‘He then offered her a massage [to relax her] and they then became intimate that evening.’

Giving evidence from behind a screen, the woman told the court: ‘I didn’t know what type of person he was. I think him being a police officer meant I let my guard down a bit.

‘He was very friendly at the start and then I started to get to know what sort of man he is. I realised over time [the relationship] was only for sex for him and I started getting concerned for my children.’

During the autumn of 2021 she faced financial difficulty when her car needed repairing and she turned to Simon for advice.

The woman said Simon encouraged her to take up sex work in order to help her financial situation.

She told the court: ‘He told me to offer myself to prostitution. He told me how to do, it where to go, how long it would take me then to buy a brand-new car… so these are all factors that contributed to me to worrying about the type of person he was.’

Mr Macdonald asked: ‘What action, if any, did you take to end the sexual relationship?’

Simon denied but was convicted of stalking, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court (file image)

She replied: ‘I went along with it, and [I realised] what type of person he is. I tried to get away, but he was very persistent. I felt like he wanted to take advantage of my emotional state…but I couldn’t [carry on] I was sick.

‘I was physically sick…and I made my mind up I was like ‘no I’ve had enough’… so that’s when I decided to block him on everything.’

‘You made reference to him watching you on close circuit television, can you just tell the court about that?’ asked the prosecutor.

She replied: ‘I remember it was after school, I picked up my kids at my usual stop and I parked there. He texted me saying he could see me. I thought he had driven by because I couldn’t see anyone there.

‘He carried on saying he could see me from the CCTV camera that’s up the road. He was texting me saying “why are you taking so long, what are you doing?”

‘He was very persistent and controlling, he kept trying to [contact me with] private numbers so I would answer the calls.’

Simon then turned up at the victim’s address uninvited one evening and texted the victim telling her he was outside. She sent a message back saying she was not well.

‘I was scared to open the door in case he would push through and I couldn’t get away from him,’ she said.

‘I just wanted to be nice. He tried to get to me again and the way he was talking, he asked me to ‘keep him warm’ which I believed meant he wanted to be intimate again.’

In January 2022 Simon attended the victim’s address with a colleague.

‘The colleague rang the doorbell so the victim would open the door, then Simon said he needed to speak to the victim,’ Mr MacDonald said. ‘She recalls a part of the exchange where he started to cup her face in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.

‘Between May and June 2022, the victim recalls the defendant attending her address unsolicited, and manufacturing a reason to speak with her.

‘It is on one occasion the prosecution say he entered her personal space to hug her, she didn’t want to hug him, but it was an awkward situation and she felt trapped and went along with it.

‘The prosecution say the defendant then grabbed her bottom and said, ‘I’ve missed this.’

Simon was arrested on July 4 when he arrived at work at the start of his shift and said: ‘What the f***’.

He joined the police as a special constable in 2010 before becoming a salaried officer in 2013.

District Judge Daniel Sternberg found the officer guilty of stalking and harassment.

He said: ‘It is right that at the very outset of your relationship you attended for a purpose connected to crime, however so far as dates in the charge I don’t believe any of your acts were under reasonable circumstances.

‘I am sure you pursued a course of conduct that amounted to the harassment of the complainant.

‘I am sure your course of conduct amounted to stalking… those acts included contacting the complainant face to face on January 18, 2022… and at the beginning of June 2022 and on July 1, 2022 when you loitered outside her address.

‘I am sure that from no later January 18, 2022 you knew or ought to have known your conduct did amount to harassment.

‘If you didn’t you would not have had another officer attend the address with you on January 18, that is compelling evidence.

‘I find the prosecution has proved its case on the basis I have set out on this decision I therefore find you guilty of this charge.’

Simon denied but was convicted of stalking. He was bailed ahead of sentence on April 4.

Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell, responsible for policing in East Area Command Unit, said: ‘PC Simon’s behaviour was unwarranted, unwanted and caused significant concern to the victim. 

‘Our officers cannot behave like this and we will be proactive in identifying and taking positive action against those who do.

‘Despite being repeatedly asked to stop he subjected the victim to a campaign of harassment which caused her considerable distress. He abused his position as a police officer and has now rightly been convicted as a result.’

Simon remains suspended from duty and misconduct proceedings will now take place as soon as possible.