A violent and abusive Met Police officer said he wanted to hang a punching bag in his garage, so he could batter that instead of his girlfriend. PC Giovanni Mascia, based at East Area Basic Command Unit, beat his partner Megan Thomas on multiple occasions over the three years they were together after meeting on the Hinge dating app in 2020, a misconduct panel heard.
It was alleged that between October 2022 and August 2023, PC Mascia assaulted his partner on two occasions, made further threats to her, caused criminal damage and made additional threats to cause criminal damage to her property. Three of the four allegations were found proven and PC Mascia was dismissed without notice after a tribunal held this month.
The panel heard how the pair met in 2020, but things turned 'toxic' when PC Mascia started making ultimatums about where Ms Thomas should live during the lockdown. After the couple bought a house in Waltham Abbey, in Essex, Ms Thomas said things 'took and turn for the absolute worse' and PC Mascia became violent and aggressive towards her.
In October 2022 PC Mascia threw Ms Thomas to the floor and repeatedly punched her arms, leaving her with bruises. The officer then told his victim no one would believe her because he was a policeman. In November 2022 PC Mascia criticised Ms Thomas about housework and pushed her against a wall by her throat, causing her to hit her head and fight back.
Another time PC Mascia walked into the living room, picked up a pillow from the sofa, and told Ms Thomas he had the intense urge to suffocate her by holding the pillow over her face. The tribunal also heard how PC Mascia held a knife to Ms Thomas' stuffed toy elephant, threatening to cut it open if she did not speak to him to try and resolve their relationship.
In his defence, PC Mascia claimed there was a single incident where Ms Thomas attacked him first so he pushed her away. But he said she grabbed him as she fell, bringing them both to the floor where she allegedly continued attacking him, prompting him to strike her twice in the arm, which he claimed was 'proportionate and lawful force'. He denied ever putting his hands around her neck.
'I am willing to get a punching bag'
But the panel also saw WhatsApp messages in which PC Mascia apologised for the pushing incident and promised to go to therapy. "Moving forward I am willing to get a punching bag, which can go in the garage, so whenever I feel stress, I can go there to relief [sic] my stress," he wrote in one message, which the panel said undermined his claim that the arguments were two-sided.
Ms Thomas's mother also gave evidence that she confronted PC Mascia about claims he called he daughter names, punched a headboard repeatedly with her in bed, and threatened to cut her toy. Mrs Thomas told the panel: "Giovanni said 'Yes, that’s all true, I want to apologise, I’ve treated Megan appallingly for eighteen months'. He said, 'I take full responsibility'."
The panel considered PC Mascia's behaviour to constitute domestic abuse, writing: "PC Mascia was clearly trying to be emotionally manipulative to Ms Thomas, as demonstrated in his threats of suicide if she left him and by threatening to cut her comfort toy." The panel did not think the stressors in his life diminished the seriousness of his conduct.
Commander Katie Lilburn wrote: "There is no place in the police service for officers who abuse their partners, this type of behaviour is totally inconsistent with the values of the MPS. In the circumstances, the only appropriate sanction in this case is dismissal without notice."
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