Met Police ‘in hopeless position’ after court rules against crackdown on officers

Metropolitan police officers accused of sexual abuse can no longer be dismissed by having their vetting clearance removed, leaving the force in a ‘hopeless’ position.

Sergeant Lino Di Maria launched a legal challenge after having his vetting removed over sexual assault allegations, which he denies.

He argued having his vetting removed without the accusations being proved is a breach of his right to a fair trial, with the High Court ruling in his favour.

But the Metropolitan Police has said this will leave them in a ‘hopeless position’ and open up rogue officers being allowed to return to the force.

It comes as police leaders attempted to ‘clean up’ the force after a number of officers were found guilty of rape and murder.

Anna Birley, founder of Reclaim These Streets which was formed in the wake of the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens, said the ruling was a ‘scary blow and a step back’.

She told Metro: ‘This news is a massive, scary blow to women and marginalised communities who might have just started feeling hopeful that things were moving in the right direction in the work to clean up British policing.

‘Instead, we are back to a situation where we can’t trust whether the officer patrolling the streets at night or turning up in our most vulnerable moments will keep us safe or put us at greater risk.

‘We cannot tolerate a situation in which police officers who fall short of standards continue in post and put women at risk. If the Home Secretary is serious about cleaning up British policing then she needs to urgently give forces the ability to get rid of sex offenders and other who fail vetting.’

Di Maria had his vetting removed in September 2023 after a number of allegations were made against him.

He had been accused of rape in 2019, with a second allegation made in 2021, with the incident said to have happened in 2015.

A complaint was also made in 2021 that the officer had been inappropriate towards female colleagues.

He was found to have no case to answer regarding the alleged rapes after insufficient evidence and after the second complainant decided not to proceed with the allegation.

It comes as police leaders attempted to ‘clean up’ the force after a number of officers were found guilty of rape and murder.

Rapist officer David Carrick was found to be one of the UK’s worst sex offenders, and pleaded guilty to a total of 49 offences, including 24 counts of rape, against 12 women between 2003 and 2020.

Officer Wayne Couzens was jailed for life after being convicted of abducting, raping and murdering Sarah Everard in March 2021.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: ‘Today’s ruling on the law has left policing in a hopeless position.

‘We now have no mechanism to rid the Met of officers who were not fit to hold vetting – those who cannot be trusted to work with women, or those who cannot be trusted to enter the homes of vulnerable people.

‘It is absolutely absurd that we cannot lawfully sack them.

‘This would not be the case in other sectors where staff have nothing like the powers comparable to police officers.’

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: ‘This decision has significant implications for the work the Met is now doing to clean up the force, raise standards and rid the police of all those unfit to serve.

‘No-one who has failed vetting should continue to serve in the force and we will work closely with the Commissioner, the Home Office and partners to assess the implications of this ruling.’

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