A senior Metropolitan Police officer called a colleague an "Asian babe" in "racially and sexually explicit messages", a misconduct panel has found.

Former Detective Sergeant Stephen Redgewell, 54, who resigned from the force in November 2018, after the allegations emerged, would have been sacked if he were still a serving officer.

The Mirror reported that he had sex with a 'dominatrix' in the headquarters of the Met Police Federation in Bromley.

Redgewell was found to have "abused his position" as deputy general secretary and treasurer of the Met Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, by "behaving in a predatory manner" towards the woman he was assisting.

The police watchdog looked at more than 2,000 texts between the pair from October 2015 to September 2017, "finding evidence that he sent numerous racially and sexually charged messages".

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said Redgewell made references to the woman's race in a "sexual context, calling her an 'Asian babe' and suggested the woman should leave her husband".

"He also sent pictures of a sexual nature, non-sexual pictures of himself, photographs of an officer he referred to as a 'Muslim babe', messages relating to that officer's race, and messages which can be categorised as anti-Semitic, racist, homophobic and sexist," the watchdog said.

IOPC regional director for London Sal Naseem said: "At a time when a vulnerable colleague needed assistance, Stephen Redgewell, who had risen to the senior position of deputy general secretary and treasurer within the Metropolitan Police Federation, abused his position by behaving in a predatory manner.

"This type of appalling behaviour corrodes the public's trust in policing and I have no doubt will appal fellow officers, the wider policing community and members of the public.

"The former officer abused his senior position to send racially and sexually explicit messages to a colleague when she was at her most vulnerable.

"The colleague told us he manipulated her and made her feel dependent on him to the extent she had to engage with him in order to receive the assistance she required from the Metropolitan Police Federation."

A police misconduct panel on Wednesday found DS Redgewell's actions amounted to gross misconduct and said he would have been dismissed without notice if he was still a serving police officer, but will now be placed on the barred list.

Commander Paul Betts, of the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards, said: "The actions of former DS Redgewell fell well below the standards expected by the Met and the public we serve.

"He abused his position as a federation representative to pursue a relationship with a female officer, who he was assisting with a work issue.

"This unacceptable behaviour was compounded by the fact DS Redgewell knew the woman was vulnerable at the time.

"The language used in text messages and conversations over the period of this relationship were also extremely offensive and have absolutely no place in the Metropolitan Police.

"The Met has a zero tolerance policy for any behaviour that is racist, sexist or homophobic and it is right DS Redgewell would have been dismissed without notice if he had still been a serving officer."