A police officer has been jailed after sexually assaulting a woman while on his stag do.

Laurence "Larry" Knight, a Metropolitan Police officer, met a woman in Brighton and went into the sea with her.

In the water, he sexually assaulted her while she repeatedly told him to stop and reminded him he was “getting married in two weeks”.

Knight, from East London, was charged with rape and sexual assault and denied both charges. At trial, he was cleared of rape but found guilty of the lesser charge of sexual assault.

At the trial, the jury heard how Knight and the woman undressed to their underwear and went into the sea, where the assault took place.

The woman later said a friend of the defendant told her: “Larry wants me to tell you that he’s sorry.”

Jayne Cioffi from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “As a police officer Knight clearly understood the concept of consent and realised that, without consent, he would be committing a sexual assault, but set what he knew aside for his own selfish reasons.

“He persuaded his victim to go into the water with him and then callously took advantage of a woman he had just met.

“It was immediately clear to her friend as soon as she came out of the sea that something terrible had happened. She called the police immediately and, when officers arrived at the scene, they found her crying and hyperventilating.

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“Knight said he had just wanted a bit of last-minute fun on his stag night but his actions have had a devastating impact on his victim and, as a police officer, he would have been only too well aware of that.

“I would like to thank the complainant for reporting what had happened to her.”

Following the incident in July, 2021, Knight was sentenced to two years in jail at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court this afternoon.

As well as being suspended from duty and now leaving the Met Police, Knight was given an indefinite restraining order against the woman.

He will also be on the sex offender's register for ten years.

A police misconduct hearing has been scheduled for August 3 to determine whether he acted in gross misconduct and if dismissal would have been justified.