A Met Police officer who used duct tape to restrain his female housemate “during 10 minutes of terror” has been jailed for four years.
Sam Grigg, 36, who was sacked from the Met after being charged, had pleaded guilty at Kingston Crown Court to false imprisonment and assault against Natasha Rabinowitz, who was then 23.
Rabinowitz told the court she “100 per cent thought” she was going to be raped by the bondage-obsessed officer.
Grigg, who was not on duty at the time, approached her in the kitchen of the “large townhouse” they shared in Twickenham, south-east London, while their other flatmates were out, in December last year.
Kirsty O'Connor
He was “keen on bondage”, collected police equipment without permission – including handcuffs and batons – and “got a kick out of arresting women as it was a form of restraint”, the court previously heard from his ex-girlfriend.
During a search of his house, officers found police-issue handcuffs, along with horror film Better Watch Out depicting a woman bound in rope with duct tape over her mouth.
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.
“Ten minutes with duct tape over your mouth without knowing what’s going to happen to you must feel like an eternity,” Judge Lodder said.
Prosecutor Alexander Agbamu said Grigg grabbed Rabinowitz’s 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 PC bent the victim over the sofa before tying her ankles together and taping over her mouth, the court heard.
Rabinowitz asked him to remove the bindings, to which Grigg replied: “If you ask nicely, I’ll take them off”. He eventually got a knife from the kitchen and used it to cut the tape, cutting her ankle and wrist in the process.
Grigg was arrested mid-shift at Mitcham Police Station, and during a search of his bedroom, officers found a bag of cable ties, several pairs of handcuffs – including two which were police-issue – bundles of rope, a gag and ball, and four silk cloths.
A police officer since 2016, Grigg had been attached to the Met’s South West Basic Command Unit until he was dismissed on January 30.
James Manning
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.
“We are determined to have a Met that the public can trust, with officers that people feel confident to approach. When someone fails to meet these standards, we will take action to remove them from our organisation.”
This latest case comes in the same week as the Met was once again forced to apologise for the brutal crimes of former officer David Carrick, who was jailed for 30 years for raping and assaulting a dozen women over a twenty year period.
