A 20-year veteran Hamilton police constable was handed a one-year demotion after admitting to using his position as an officer to pick up a woman drinking in Hess Village last summer.

Const. Thomas McKay will lose $17,000 in pay for his misconduct, which included meeting the woman while on duty and taking her back to her house after his shift.

The discipline comes while he is in the middle of a two-year demotion for picking up a sex worker and then trying to cover it up.

He initially claimed she was an informant, but later admitted to his actions.

That demotion cost McKay $40,000 in lost salary.

The two demotions will be served consecutively, through to April 24, 2017.

At a Police Services Act hearing Tuesday, McKay pleaded guilty to one count of discreditable conduct. Three other disciplinary charges were withdrawn as part of a joint settlement.

"I'm incredibly embarrassed and sorry to be here," McKay said.

According to the agreed statement of facts, McKay was working a paid duty shift in the entertainment district July 12, 2014. Around 3 a.m., he had a 15-minute conversation with a woman.

"It was apparent to McKay that the female individual had been drinking and was under the influence of alcohol," said police lawyer Marco Visentini, reading from the facts.

At the end of his shift, around 3:15 a.m., he offered the woman a ride home and she accepted.

McKay brought her to his personal car and drove her and another officer back to the east-end station. Two other officers saw the woman in the back of his car and alerted supervisors.

At the station, McKay changed out of his uniform and then returned to the car alone to drive her home.

He spent approximately 45 minutes in her Mountain residence, where they engaged in consensual sexual activity.

Visentini said McKay's actions were serious, purposeful and deliberate, later adding that he showed a remarkable lack of judgment.

He "embarrassed himself, his family, the service and the community."

He cautioned McKay that he would likely lose his job if he ended up before the tribunal again.

Visentini also warned all officers that "all such matters will go to tribunal ... there will be no sweeping under the rug."

Outside of the hearing, McKay's lawyer, Gary Clewley, called the penalty serious, but added that McKay knows it's fair.

"He's prepared to take his medicine and move on," he said.

During the hearing Visentini remarked on a pattern of behaviour, given that both recent disciplinary matters involved sexual misconduct.

Clewley took some exception to this, saying the two incidents are "are not exactly the same, this was one of those errors in judgment made late in a shift … he knows it was a dumb thing to do."

Clewley described McKay as being an otherwise diligent officer. He also noted that McKay wanted to plead guilty at the earliest opportunity, partly to spare the woman from being called as a witness.

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"I don't think it was a fireable offence, because it was consensual, and most of it took place off duty," he said.

Hearing officer Terence Kelly accepted the joint submission, calling the sentence acceptable.

His formal, written judgment will be released in about two weeks.