A former Met police officer has been found guilty of gross misconduct following her investigation into Wayne Couzens, a disciplinary hearing has heard.

PC Samantha Lee was found to have failed to make “the correct investigative inquiries” over two incidents when Couzens flashed McDonald’s workers, in Swanley, on February 14 and 27, 2021.

On both occasions, Couzens was seen by female members of staff to have his pants open and his penis on display.

Ms Lee, who has since left the force and started and OnlyFans account, attended the restaurant on March 3 and interviewed manager Sam Taylor, hours before Sarah Everard was kidnapped in Clapham.

The former officer was found to have lied about her actions when later questioned about the interview, claiming that she believed that CCTV at the restaurant was deleted automatically so there would be no footage of Couzens or the offence.

Panel chairman Darren Snow found that this dishonesty amounted to gross misconduct, and that had Ms Lee still been a serving officer, she would have been dismissed from the force.

In his evidence, Mr Taylor said that he had shown Ms Lee CCTV footage and told her it could be downloaded on to a USB stick.

He also said that he explained to her that Couzens’ registration plate could be seen in the CCTV footage of the second incident.

For her part, Ms Lee denied that this was the case, saying that he had told her that there was no CCTV.

Mr Snow, reading the panel’s findings, found that Mr Taylor was a “credible” witness.

He added: “We find Sam Taylor to be a credible witness and that his evidence was clear. We find it inconceivable that he would not have shown her the CCTV evidence.”

Instead, the panel found that Ms Lee had been driven to dishonesty by the “pressure” of the investigation.

“We have some understanding of this situation, a relatively straightforward exposure became an issue of immense pressure,” he said.