UK cop misuses Scotland Yard credit card to buy items from sex shop

London, July 21 (ANI): A UK anti-terror cop has been revealed in court to have used his Scotland Yard credit card to buy items from a sex shop.

Detective Constable Matthew Washington, 37, is said to have wasted thousands of pounds of taxpayers' cash by abusing his expenses for more than a year.

Washington did not only use the card at the sex shop, but he also bought clothes and holidays on an American Express card issued to him by the Met, and "completely disregarded" police rules.

Southwark Crown Court in South London was told that he started abusing his corporate Amex almost as soon as he was given it in July 2006.

And prosecutor Stephen Winberg said Washington had used it to "fund holidays, for example to Euro Disney, travel, food shopping and personal expenses".

The credit cards that were given to officers were meant only for "travel and subsistence purposes"."Particularly indicative of this, I am afraid, is the purchase of five items... from a sex shop in Soho," the Sun quoted Winberg as telling jurors.

"The question I pose to you on the Crown's behalf is what part of his job description did Mr Washington at the time - DC Washington as he then was - think he was fulfilling by using the Metropolitan Police Service card in a sex shop in Soho?

"The Crown are not saying there is anything wrong going to a sex shop, but you do not use a card given by your employers for travel and subsistence purposes," he said.

The court heard Washington spent more than 19,200 pounds between July 2006 and September 2007, of which more than 12,500 pounds was unauthorised.

Of that, 7,000 pounds had been withdrawn in cash, while 350 pounds was spent on clothes bought at Next, T M Lewin and Marks and Spencer.

When Washington was first quizzed about his spending, he read out a prepared statement claiming he had been working "very long hours" with little "personal time".

He also said he had been "through an upsetting divorce and his son had had cancer which had weighed heavily on his mind and this had caused him to lose track of his expenses".

Washington denies misconduct in public office. (ANI)