MASOOD KHAN

MASOOD KHAN, SENIOR POLICE OFFICER

Masood Khan, of South London, had a 20-minute sex romp with a stranger while on police duty

A senior police officer who had a 20-minute sex romp with a stranger while on duty has been found not guilty of misconduct - because he was wearing his ear piece at the time. A jury took less than 10 minutes to clear Masood Khan, 41, of Coulsdon, South London, . He faced one charge of wilful misconduct in a public office after he met a 43-year-old woman on the internet and arranged to meet her at Gatwick airport's railway station on July 23 last year. A British Transport Police Inspector responsible for rail passenger safety across south-east England, Mr Khan breathed a heavy sigh of relief as a jury found him not guilty of wilful misconduct after deliberating for less than ten minutes at Southwark Crown Court. Mr Khan had admitted having sex with the woman, and the court heard that while the pair romped, he kept his police radio earpiece on. But he insisted he had not been neglecting his duties. Mr Khan still faces an internal disciplinary hearing and even the sack. Earlier, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith told the jury it had to decide if Mr Khan's behaviour was so serious it amounted to criminal misconduct. During the two-day trial the court heard Khan drove to the rendezvous from his office in Victoria, central London, in a marked police car after telling a junior officer he needed the room for police business. He arrived at the railway station in full uniform before meeting the woman. CCTV footage showed the couple went into a sparsely furnished office at the end of platform two at the station and emerge 20 minutes later. Khan, who has been a police officer for 15 years, accepted the woman performed a sex act on him and they had full intercourse during that time. Defence counsel Kevin Baumber said Khan's behaviour amounted to "misbehaviour but not criminal behaviour". The British Transport Police (BTP) inspector had met the woman on internet dating site www.uniformdating.com, where he used the name Michael K Plod. Khan claimed he thought that at the time of the arranged tryst, at three o'clock on July 23 last year, another inspector would have been on duty to relieve him from the job of covering south east London. This was not the case and Khan admitted he went ahead regardless, saying: "It was absolutely the wrong thing to do morally and professionally. I should have never have done it." Describing the romp in a police interview, he said: "Once inside the room things moved very quickly. There had been chit-chat. "It was obvious she had been expecting to have sex." After the sex session Khan returned to work. He was arrested two days later. Khan may still face internal disciplinary action, despite convincing the jury his actions were not criminal. MASOOD KHAN15 Aug 2007