Met Police Constable Michael Bouwers, 30, pictured outside Kingston Crown Court, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting six women while at a police colleague’s leaving do
A sex ‘pest’ policeman groped half a dozen women – including primary school staff at a Christmas party – after a six hour booze binge.
Met Police Constable Michael Bouwers, 30, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting six women while at a police colleague’s leaving do.
Father-of-three Bouwers repeatedly pinched the bottom of women at the bar and on the dancefloor, a court heard.
Bouwers, who was based with Sutton borough in south London, now faces the likelihood of being booted out of the force.
A number of Christmas parties were taking place at the plush Grange Bar and Restaurant in Wallington, Surrey, at the same time as the police event on December 16, 2016, Kingston Crown Court was told.
Bouwers had been drinking at the bar with colleagues since about 5.30pm that day while others at the event enjoyed a meal before hitting the dancefloor later.
Gino Connor, prosecuting, said: ‘All the victims in this case are females, and they were all mature adults.
‘Most, if not all of them, were in a relationship and some were in fact were mothers with children.’
Bouwers approached his first victim from behind while she was at the bar getting a drink and grabbed her right buttock.
Mr Connor said: ‘She slapped his hand way and at the time she was wearing a dress, and she said she didn’t think much of it.’
The second victim was a teaching assistant who was on the dancefloor with female colleagues, on their Christmas party.
Bouwers went up to her and ‘tapped her lower bottom’ before going away, and then returning and doing the same again.
Bouwers approached his first victim from behind while she was at the bar getting a drink and grabbed her right buttock. He is pictured left and right outside Kingston Crown Court
The prosecutor said: ‘She describes his behaviour as annoying and put his hand on her left bottom cheek, and then put two hands on her bottom and she told him to stop.’
The victim told her husband after the event and said ‘she didn’t really speak over the weekend’.
The third victim was part of another group on the dancefloor when he went up to her and tried to dance with her before pinching her bottom two other times.
Mr Conner said: ‘He was described as sly and didn’t apologise.
‘She said he was annoying and a pest.
‘He returned later from the dancefloor, having been taken away by his colleagues and pinched her bottom again.’
Mr Conner added: ‘When she realised the person who did this to her was a police officer, she said in her statement, it makes it worse and he was more than likely go an arrest people this type of offence.’
As Bouwers walked past the fourth victim on the dancefloor he put his left hand on her stomach and ‘ran it down towards her crotch.’
The victim said she was ‘shocked, but didn’t say anything at the time’.
A number of Christmas parties were taking place at the plush Grange Bar and Restaurant (pictured) in Wallington, Surrey, at the same time as the police event on December 16, 2016, Kingston Crown Court was told
The fifth victim was another member of staff from the primary school and was also on the dancefloor with colleagues when she was approached by Bouwers.
She described him as ‘a bit of a pest’ and Bouwers gave ‘full hand grab’ of her bottom.
The sixth victim was a teacher at the school who again on the dancefloor had her bottom grabbed by Bouwers.
The prosecutor said: ‘She was aware of the defendant bumping into people and said he appeared not to be aware of his personal space.’
He grabbed her bottom while she was dancing and approached a second time when he ‘grabbed her around the waist from behind and one of his hands went towards her groin area’.
Mr Conner said: ‘He pushed his groin area towards her, as he was pulled her towards him she told him to go away.
‘In terms of the affect it has had on her, she feels as a result it has knocked her confidence.’
The court heard at the time of the offences, Bouwers was working from a Met Police office in Lambeth, south London, having previously been attached to Sutton borough.
Kevin Baumber, in mitigation, told the court his client was remorseful for what he had done, and at the time of the offices was very stressed and overworked.
Mr Baumber said: ‘He was drinking so much because he was anxious and depressed for which he was not being treated for at the time.’
The court heard he has since been put on anti-drepressants and Mr Baumber argued his client was not ‘chauvinistic,’ as described in a pre sentence report, but a ‘nuisance’.
Kingston Crown Court heard he has since been put on anti-drepressants and Mr Baumber argued his client was not ‘chauvinistic,’ as described in a pre sentence report, but a ‘nuisance’
He said Baumber, who had been a police officer for four years, would more than likely be booted out of Met Police for gross misconduct.
Sentencing Baumnber, Judge Georgina Kent, said: ‘During that evening you behaved in the most appalling way towards the those six victims by sexually assaulting each of them.’
She added: ‘These are serious offences.
‘These women should have been able to go out for an evening out, without expecting to be assaulted, they should have been safe in that space.
‘Your behaviour that evening was aggravated but the fact you were clearly very very drunk and the offences took place at night.’
The judge said it was a ‘patten of behaviour’ on the night and he was persistent in his actions.
She said: ‘You were a serving police officers.
‘And you have let yourself down, your have let your family down and the service down by behaving that way on that night.’
Bouwers, of Sutton, was spared jail and given a community order after pleading guilty last month to six counts of sexual assault.
He was sentenced to a 100 day community order, 60 day rehabilitation activity requirement order, which must be completed over 12 months.
He must also sign the sex offenders register for five years.