A disgraced ex-police officer has been barred from working for any other force in the country after agreeing to pay a vulnerable homeless woman for a sex act, a tribunal ruled.

Kevin Woof was also accused of pushing the woman to the ground after dragging her into an alleyway in Newcastle City Centre after spending the day drinking and taking ‘poppers’.

The panel found the alleged victim, her partner, and Mr Woof to be all unreliable witnesses after they gave several different versions of events surrounding the 'sex act' incident.

However, they found that the former officer lied in his statement to police and gave an implausible account of what happened on the night following his arrest.

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The misconduct hearing was told how the woman’s boyfriend intervened and Mr Woof ran from Dean Street and jumped into a taxi parked on Moseley Street before urging to the drive to ‘just go’.

The ex-Cleveland Police officer went on a bender the day after he was told that he would not be facing any further action following an allegation of drink-fuelled rape when Durham Constabulary told him there was insufficient evidence.

On October 17, 2021, Mr Woof then headed out to watch Newcastle United play Tottenham Hotspur before heading to two lap dancing bars with a friend.

The tribunal heard how he had downed at least ten pints throughout the day and buying a bottle Liquid Gold, also known as poppers, before grabbing the woman.

A search of his mobile phone records showed he had been searching for prostitutes and escorts in the Newcastle area minutes before he is alleged to have dragged the woman into an alleyway.

The ex-officer had claimed that he was trying to trace a dancer from one of the strip joints he had visited but the panel found that version of events was not supported by his internet search.

Following his arrest, the experienced officer said he was the victim of an attempted robbery after he nipped into the alleyway to relieve himself before being threatened with a knife.

The panel found that there was no evidence that an attempted knife-point robbery had taken place.

Body-cam footage captured by police attending the disturbance picked up the woman saying: “He has asked me for a ‘blow ***’ and then he has pushed me to the ground.”

Mr Woof, who did not attend the misconduct hearing, was not prosecuted for any offence when the alleged victim and her partner withdrew their support from the criminal investigation.

Panel Chairman Adrian Phillips said the evidence of the three key witnesses was implausible and unreliable before finding that the former officer was guilty of gross misconduct for attempting to take advantage of a vulnerable woman.

He added: “The panel finds that PC Woof sought to take advantage of her – a vulnerable woman – she was homeless, begging on the street, she was alcohol dependent and had a history of problematic drug use.

“It ought to have been apparent to him that she was a vulnerable woman.”

The panel ruled that his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and Mr Woof would have been dismissed if he was still a serving officer.

He will now be placed on the College of Policing’s barred list.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector John Bonner, Head of Counter Corruption Unit and Vetting, said: “I understand that the off-duty conduct of former officer, Mr Woof, will shock and concern the public.

"That same shock and concern has been felt by the dedicated and hardworking officers and staff who serve the Force, day and night, 365 days of the year.

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“We have no place in our organisation for anyone who perpetrates violence against women and girls.

“The work of the Counter Corruption Unit in tackling this problem, by rooting out bad officers and staff through misconduct processes and vetting is part of the force’s robust approach to ensuring high standards of policing.

“I will endeavour to ensure that our approach is transparent and visible to the public. Mr Woof resigned prior to a hearing, however, we continued to pursue him as a former officer and successfully challenged the request of a private hearing.

“Today’s outcome of gross misconduct found by the panel, with a sanction that Mr Woof would have been dismissed from the police service if still serving, protects both the public and the police service by barring him from future employment within the service.”