Disgraced Scotland Yard detective is convicted of pleasuring himself on Hampstead Heath

A Scotland Yard detective was convicted of pleasuring himself on Hampstead Heath after being caught by two colleagues he did not realise were plain clothes officers.

Detective Constable Dariusz Alexander, 49, had to be told three times to stop touching himself when the officers spotted him with his trousers down at the north London beauty spot, prosecutors said.

Alexander said he had locked eyes with one of the policemen while ‘walking through a gay cruising area’ and had misinterpreted the look as one of desire. The arresting officer, who cannot be named, said he was ‘shocked and upset’ by what he had seen.

Alexander, who was attached to the Met Operations Command and was off-duty at the time, was arrested on March 18.

Appearing at Stratford Magistrates’ Court yesterday, he denied one count of public indecency and claimed he thought the officer was a gay man who was attracted to him.

Detective Constable Dariusz Alexander, 49, had to be told three times to stop touching himself when the officers spotted him

He added that he did not hear his colleague telling him to stop because he was listening to music through his headphones.

But Judge Anthony Woodcock found him guilty and handed the disgraced detective a six-month conditional discharge.

The judge told him he was confident that he would not offend again but had no choice but to hand down a guilty verdict based on the evidence.

The two officers who arrested Alexander had been conducting an unrelated search on Hampstead Heath when they saw their colleague with his trousers down, Joe Mensah, prosecuting, said.

‘He [the unnamed officer] observes the defendant to be performing a sexual act,’ he added.

‘The officer then said “put that away, mate”. That didn’t seem to stop him so he repeated the command and brought out his card.

‘This caused the defendant to immediately comply and to become apologetic. The officer then called his colleague to assist him and Alexander was arrested. This was an area that had people, members of the public, present.’

Alexander told the court that he came to the UK from his native Poland because he believed British society was more accepting of homosexuality.

Alexander told the court that he came to the UK from his native Poland because he believed British society was more accepting of homosexuality

He said he had gone to Hampstead Heath to relax away from the stress of his job, when he noticed a man in his 30s who appeared to be staring at him. ‘He looked at me intently for a number of seconds,’ he said. ‘It was a very keen look. That area of the heath is a well-known area where LGBTQ, gay men go to pursue sex.’

He insisted he would not have exposed himself had there been more people around.

During his police interview, Alexander said he found the other officer attractive. ‘I thought he felt the same way about me. I exposed my genitals to indicate that I was interested in a sexual encounter with him,’ he said.

‘I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I had my headphones on. I feel terribly embarrassed that I misread the situation.’

Police colleagues gave character witnesses to support Alexander, including Detective Inspector John Millward, who described him as one of his best officers.

‘He’s thorough, conscientious, excellent with victims and their families,’ he added. ‘He is very popular at the station.’

In addition to the conditional discharge, Alexander was order to pay £625 in prosecution costs and a £26 victim surcharge. The Met said Alexander had been suspended and there would be misconduct proceedings.