A Met officer who was convicted of an assault in Romford while on duty has been sacked without notice.

PC Jack Wood was on duty in Romford on January 5, 2020 when he responded to reports of a fight.

At the scene, a 26-year-old man sustained lacerations to his head as a result of a baton strike and another man of the same age was physically restrained.

Wood - who was attached to the Met’s East area command unit serving Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge at the time – was given a suspended, six-month jail term and ordered to pay costs totalling £1,122 last June.

He had previously been found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault by beating following a trial.

A special case hearing held on May 31 and chaired by assistant commissioner Amanda Pearson concluded Wood had breached the standards of professional behaviour in relation to 'discreditable conduct' and 'use of force'.

Wood will now be added to the barred list held by the College of Policing, meaning he cannot be employed by police, local policing bodies, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) or HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.

East Area Borough Cmdr Ch Supt Stuart Bell said: "The Met has no place for officers who misuse the powers entrusted to us.

"While police officers have powers that allow them to use force, it is expected and demanded that officers use those powers in a reasonable, proportionate and lawful way.

"It is clear that in this incident, these standards were not met.

"PC Jack Wood has been held to account criminally and now via misconduct proceedings which have seen him dismissed from the Met."

Following the incident in 2020, the Met received a formal complaint about the force used by the officers.

The matter was then referred to the IOPC after a review of the available evidence.

Following an independent investigation by the IOPC and a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service, PC Wood was charged in July 2020, police say.