Former Met officer who bound female flatmate with duct tape jailed

Sam Grigg, 36, forced 23-year-old woman to believe she was about to be raped during ‘10 minutes of terror’

A former Metropolitan police officer has been jailed for four years after restraining his flatmate with duct tape, forcing her to believe she was about to be raped.

Sam Grigg, 36, who was sacked from the Met last month after being charged, previously pleaded guilty at Kingston crown court to false imprisonment and assault against the 23-year-old.

Before sentencing him to four years, the judge, Peter Lodder KC, described the attack as “10 minutes of terror” for the victim, who had “no real relationship” with Grigg other than being his housemate.

His ex-girlfriend had told the court that Grigg was “keen on bondage” and collected police equipment without permission – including handcuffs and batons. He “got a kick out of arresting women as it was a form of restraint”, she said.

During a search of his house, officers found police-issue handcuffs and batons, along with the horror film Better Watch Out, which depicts a woman bound in rope with duct tape over her mouth.

On 2 December last year Grigg, who was not on duty at the time, approached his flatmate in the kitchen of the “large townhouse” they shared in Twickenham, south-west London, while their other flatmates were out.

The prosecutor, Alexander Agbamu, said Grigg grabbed her wrists and pulled her towards him while she tried to pull away. When she asked him why, he said he “thought it was funny”.

The former officer bent the victim over the sofa before tying her ankles together and taping over her mouth, the court heard.

At one point Grigg left briefly to answer a postman at the door, before “smiling” down at her as she attempted to free herself, the court heard.

Agbamu said: “By now she was sweating and breathing heavily. She managed to crawl towards a set of ground-level drawers. Grigg spent the next few minutes watching her as she did her best using her feet prising open the drawer.”

Grigg eventually got a knife from the kitchen and used it to cut the tape, nicking her ankle and wrist in the process.

One of the first things the victim did following the assault was to message a friend, telling them: “I genuinely, like 100%, thought he was going to rape me.”

Agbamu read her victim impact statement to the court.

He said: “She has experienced increased anxiety and a generalised deterioration in her mental health. She has punched herself. She’s also considered using a knife on herself as well. It’s caused her to mistrust the police and made her concerned about the recruitment processes of the police, though she makes clear that the police, once they received her message, dealt with her complaint very swiftly and very positively.”

The case comes after the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, predicted that two to three of his officers were likely to face criminal charges in court each week over the coming months.

Grigg, who had been a police officer since 2016, was attached to the Met’s South West Basic Command Unit until he was dismissed on 30 January.

Commander Jon Savell, responsible for the Met’s professional standards team, said: “This was a terrifying ordeal for the woman. Grigg’s behaviour was appalling and I know it will cause concern among members of the public. He’s let down the Met and his colleagues who are committed to protecting Londoners.

“We took immediate action to suspend Grigg from duty when his offending came to light and dismissed at the earliest opportunity.”

In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, Mental Health America is available on 800-273-8255. In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978

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