Actor-turned-detective, 37, avoids jail for stalking a woman he met on Bumble - after he was kicked out of the Met for exposing himself to a Tinder date while working in force's safeguarding unit

An actor-turned-detective has avoided jail for stalking a woman he met on Bumble after he was kicked out of the Metropolitan Police for exposing himself to a Tinder date. 

Thomas Hartill, 37, who appeared in off West End productions Jekyll and Hyde and As You Like It, began dating a teacher he met on Bumble in February 2023 before she ended the relationship a few months later in July. 

After the breakup, Hartill allegedly showed up at the teacher's home and work unannounced which caused her to feel ‘on edge and anxious all the time’.

Last week, Hartill was handed an 18-month community order at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court after he admitted stalking the teacher at both her work and home address after they met on Bumble.  

Prosecutor Tom Gill said: ‘The complainant and the defendant were in a relationship for around five months.

‘They met on the dating app Bumble and began dating in February 2023. The relationship ended in July 2023.

‘She felt that there were a number of things in the relationship that didn’t add up.

‘This included him making claims about what he was doing when he was working and telling stories about what he was doing that did not make sense to her.

‘His demeanour around police issues led to her deciding to end the relationship.

‘She stated that his behaviour became more alarming after she attempted to end the relationship.

‘She repeatedly asked the defendant to give her space and requested that they cease contact.

‘Despite this the defendant continued to message her and eventually she blocked the defendant’s number.

‘He responded to that by messaging her from a second number’.

Mr Gill said the officer would turn up unannounced at the teacher’s home address and workplace.

‘She attempted to end the relationship on July 7, 2023. On July 12 the complainant left work slightly earlier than normal.

‘She crossed the road to walk home and had then seen the defendant.

‘He straight away attempted to go back over the issues, addressing her holding a bunch of roses.

‘On September 7 the complainant left work at 4pm and walked to a bus stop at Kentish Town Road.

‘She saw the defendant walking up the road from the same direction.

‘She turned her back to avoid making contact, he walked past her a few minutes later.

‘This time he stood in front of her and said hello, and spoke to her for a few minutes.

‘CCTV also showed the defendant waiting at the end of the road where the defendant worked’.

The complainant said in a victim impact statement that Hartill’s stalking has caused her to feel ‘on edge and anxious all the time’.

She said: ‘My overall wellbeing and my quality of life is being negatively impacted by the behaviour.

‘At home and at work it makes me feel incredibly unsafe’.

James O’Donnell, defending, said Hartill was on anti-depressants and his ‘judgement was cloudy’ at the time of the stalking.

He said ‘nothing was ever threatening’ about the messages Hartill sent to the victim.

Sentencing him for the stalking offence, Bench Chair Mr Jenkins said: ‘It is a great shame when we see someone like yourself in court.

‘No previous convictions, a police officer. I understand you have faced some challenges at work, you have suffered from depression as well.

‘We also have to consider the victim in this case’.

Hartill was handed an 18-month community order, 58 hours of unpaid work, and told to complete a ‘building better relationships’ course with 20 days rehabilitation activity requirement.

He was also handed a restraining order for three years ‘to ensure none of this occurs again in the future’.

The conditions include not contacting the victim directly or indirectly and not attending her home or workplace.   

The trainee detective constable was off-duty when he matched up with a woman on Tinder and they agreed to meet up in a park near Harpenden, Herts, on June 17 last year.

He twice placed her hand under his shorts and then exposed himself when they went for a drive while telling her ‘go on’.

The woman, referred to as Ms A, dropped the officer off at a police station in Hertfordshire and told a friend the next day that she felt like she had been ‘sexually assaulted’.

Hartill resigned from the force last December after submitting photos purportedly of the woman either naked or in bikinis.

Ms A had denied sending him the photos but said he might have accessed the bikini images on her Facebook page.

Hartill was found guilty of gross misconduct following a disciplinary hearing in February and a panel ruled he would have been dismissed had he not resigned.

Earlier Chief Superintendent Sara Leach, leading the Met’s North West Policing Command, said: ‘There is no excuse for the actions of this officer.

‘In his former role as a police officer he would have been aware of the devastating consequences of stalking, therefore this makes his offending all the more disappointing.

‘PC Hartill has been dismissed from the Met and he has been added to a barred list, held by the College of Policing, which means he cannot be employed by a police force again.'