Detective Chief Superintendent Andrew Rowell has been dismissed without notice almost two years after being arrested as part of Operation Elveden.
The Borough Commander for Ealing was arrested in February 2013 after allegations of leaking information to a journalist were made against him.
In July of the same year the Crown Prosecution Service announced that it would take no further action against Ealing’s police commander.
Mr Rowell was suspended from duties and remained on 'garden leave' pending the outcome of the internal misconduct proceedings.
However Mr Rowell, 51, was finally dismissed on January 16 following a misconduct hearing lasting six days.
The panel heard evidence in relation to six allegations. Of the six allegations the case was found proven in four and not proven in two.
In a statement from the Met police Mr Rowell's behaviour was proven to have lacked honesty and integrity, that he had abused his position and his behaviour could have brought discredit on the police service'.
The panel heard evidence that DCS Rowell kept a copy of a statement, which included sensitive details from a serious crime investigation. He then allowed a journalist to see it and photograph it.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Fiona Taylor, of the Directorate of Professional Standards said: "Andy Rowell had a long and successful career, rising to the rank of Detective Chief Superintendent, he was respected by staff across the organisation as well as the community he worked with. He let all of those people down when he took the decision to leak police information in a significant and sensitive case - going against everything that he knew would have been the correct thing to do. His actions lacked the integrity required to be a police officer."
In Feburary 2014 a spokesperson from the Met Police confirmed to getwestlondon that he was to remain on full pay and when asked how this could be justified to the tax payer, said: “It’s a legal process, he is not guilty of anything at this moment.”
