An ex-officer who said a domestic abuse victim "should have been a better wife" and joked about raping a female colleague has been barred from serving in the police for life.

Former PC Kennedy Lungu faced a misconduct hearing at Thames Valley Police headquarters in Kidlington on October 28.

He was accused of a string of sexual and offensive comments towards women made during his training in Sulhamstead, West Berkshire.

READ MORE: Oxford 'hit-and-run' sees man and 14-year-old boy arrested

This included saying that "no does not really mean no" during a conversation about consent around sex.

Mr Lungu also had a professional footballer recently acquitted of rape set as his phone screen saver, and called him his ‘hero’.

Mr Lungu did no attend the hearing, but was banned from serving in the police force for life.

The panel said it could find no mitigating factors for Mr Lungu’s behaviour "other than noting that he was very early in his career".

The ex-trainee told a fellow female trainee to hurry up, and when asked what he would do if she would not, joked he would rape her.

While watching a video about domestic abuse, Mr Lungu made a comment to the effect that the "woman in question deserved it".

The panel said a colleague recalled "many times arriving in class and former officer Lungu talking about sex and talking at lunch about sex".

His behaviour was found to have been "intentional, deliberate, targeted and planned’, amounting to ‘abuse of women and girls".

The panel ruled that he would have been sacked from the force if he had not already resigned prior to proceedings.

Help support trusted local news 

Sign up for a digital subscription now: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/subscribe/

As a digital subscriber you will get:      

  • Unlimited access to the Oxford Mail website   
  • Advert-light access       
  • Reader rewards       
  • Full access to our app