A former Met officer has been banned from policing after making “inappropriate advances” in text messages to a victim of domestic abuse.

PC Ashley Bashar, who served in Haringey and Enfield, was found to have sent many personal messages to the woman over an eight-month period in 2020.

He also provided the woman, who had made a domestic abuse report to police, with his personal number.

After a complaint was made against him, PC Bashar resigned from the Met in November 2022.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) began an investigation in March this year following a referral from the Met.

The IOPC found that the woman felt increasingly uncomfortable about the messages and that PC Bashar would accuse her of ignoring him when she did not reply.

PC Bashar was also the subject of a previous IOPC investigation in 2018 relating to a similar allegation that he contacted a victim of crime using his personal phone.

He was directed to undergo further training, receiving “knowing the line” training in April 2020 and was reminded about the force’s policy around contacting victims on personal phones.

On November 16, on the advice of the IOPC, the Met held an accelerated misconduct hearing for PC Bashar.

This concluded that he breached police standards of professional behaviour regarding discreditable conduct.

It determined that PC Bashar would have been dismissed without notice had he still been serving.

He will now be placed on the College of Policing barred list, meaning he cannot serve as a police officer or in a number of other related roles in the future.

IOPC regional director Charmaine Arbouin said: “At the time when former PC Bashar first contacted the victim of domestic abuse, he was receiving further training following a similar incident where he contacted a victim on his personal phone.

“He had also confirmed he understood the force’s policy around this.

“Despite this, he continued to send personal messages to the woman over several months, even after she stopped responding.

“It’s clear he knew his behaviour was inappropriate and either was incapable of, or unwilling to change his behaviour.”