12 Met cops awaiting trial for sick sex offences – with one charged with three counts of rapes
TWELVE Met Police officers are awaiting criminal trial over sexual offences, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.
The shocking statistic comes after a bombshell report into the force prompted its chief Sir Mark Rowley to admit that hundreds of his officers should be “ejected” for criminal or disgraceful behaviour.
London’s Metropolitan Police admitted — under Freedom Of Information laws — that as of mid- September, 12 of its officers or former officers were “awaiting court cases to be heard related to sexual offences”.
Six officers are suspended from duty, two are subject to restricted duties and four no longer work for the force.
The Met said: “We recognise this will cause concern. The new Commissioner has been clear that there will be a robust response to officers who corrupt the integrity of the Met.”
The force — Britain’s biggest — did not name any of the 12, but one former cop is due for trial next month.
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The man, from Essex, is charged with three counts of rape and one of “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity” in Lilleshall, Shrops, in July.
He is on remand awaiting trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
A PC based in Enfield, North London, has been charged with more than a dozen offences including four counts of sexual activity with a child aged 13 to 15.
The cop was arrested in July and has been suspended.
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He has also been charged with distributing indecent images of a child, among offences said to have occurred between 2019 and 2021.
A Met police firearms officer, 46, who guarded the PM at Downing Street is facing trial for rape.
He denied the charge at a magistrates court this month but was remanded in custody.
The damning report into the Met this week found cops had avoided the sack despite complaints over sexual violence, sharing explicit images, discrimination and dishonesty.
The probe, by Baroness Casey of Blackstock, found the force’s misconduct system was racist, misogynist and unfit for purpose.
The inquiry — ordered after serving gun cop Wayne Couzens abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard in March 2021 — was based solely on internal misconduct hearings.
The interim report found 1,800 serving cops and staff were allowed to remain in post despite multiple misconduct raps.
One current serving cop has faced 11 misconduct cases involving abuse, sexual harassment, fraud and showing an explicit image of himself.
After its publication, Sir Mark spoke of his “shame” and confessed he “shed a tear” while reading advance drafts.
He added: “There must be hundreds of officers who are behaving disgracefully, undermining our integrity and need ejecting.”
His predecessor Cressida Dick quit in February following a number of high-profile scandals involving the force, including cases of sexism and misogyny.
A spokesman for victims’ charity The Survivors Trust said of the Baroness Casey inquiry: “The vast majority of people who have experienced rape and sexual abuse do not report what has happened to them to the police.
“This latest news will do nothing to increase survivors’ confidence in the police and risks seriously undermining some of the good work being done by some police forces to support survivors.”
Today we can also reveal:
- Met chief Sir Mark now plans to meet whistleblowing ex-cop Dave Eden, who exposed a toxic culture in the unit where Couzens worked.
- Mr Eden says a “canteen culture” of racism and sexism has moved online to Facebook and WhatsApp groups.
- A former Met Police artist advertised sketches of “c***s, nudes and b***s” for the inside of police caps and helmets to officers on a private Facebook group.
A probe shows problems with racism, suspension and inappropriate behaviour in police forces nationally.
Mr Eden secretly kept an archive of sick images by former and serving members of the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection unit, where Couzens was working when he killed 33-year-old Sarah.
In 2016, Mr Eden, who retired in 2010, joined a Facebook group of serving and retired Met officers then a WhatApp group called The Old Boys Beer Meet.
After Sarah’s murder, retired officer Rob Lewis posted an old Highway Code poster mocking the killing.
Another member of the group replied: “Sick bastard — there are only a few people I can send this to who will find it as funny as we did.”
Mr Eden, 62, said: “When Couzens murdered Sarah, the call went out if anyone knew him, which suggests there were serving protection officers in the group.
The canteen culture of racism, misogyny, homophobia and bullying has migrated to private social media groups and now operates by stealth.”
Mr Eden went public about retired protection officer Lewis — now a Border Force worker — and was blocked from the group.
Lewis was then suspended by the Home Office and arrested by police this month for alleged offences under the Communications Act and misconduct in public office.
He has been bailed pending further enquiries to a date next month.
Rogue cop numbers
- 12 officers face trial for sexual offences
- One has face 11 misconduct charges… and is still in force
- 1,800 kept jobs after misconduct charges
Our probe found a retired Met artist offered crude sketches to the 2,500 members of Facebook group Metropolitan Police Serving And Retired.
The ad said: “I am getting asked, practically daily, if I can sketch certain adult-themed illustrations (c***s, nudes, b***s) and whatever else depraved illustrations officers want inside their flat caps.”
The £160 images were aimed at keeping what is said to be a tradition of “pimping” headgear among Met cops.
But a whistleblower in the Facebook group said: “Some neanderthal officers did draw crude drawings inside the headbands of their caps and helmets.
“Imagine how this would appear to a female victim of sexual assault? In light of the Sarah Everard murder it is even more appalling.”
The group also warned members it could be infiltrated by officers from the Met’s new Line Of Duty-style internal investigations unit.
An admin for the closed group told members: “There is someone within the group reporting certain posts and members back to the Met and some serving officers are then becoming subject to investigation or being reminded of the Met’s Social Media Policy.
“I urge all those serving to think carefully about what you say and all those retired to consider if your comments could potentially cause issues for those serving.”
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We need urgent action to root out all abuse and misconduct and to raise standards.”
While supporting Sir Mark’s purge, Police Federation Chairman Ken Marsh said: “We have to remember 99 per cent of our officers do an amazing job every day to protect the public, and need to be careful that a witch-hunt against the police in general is not carried out.”
Another whistleblower told us members of the group reacted angrily this week to the Casey report and Sir Mark’s comments.
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One wrote: “Yet again this commissioner says hundreds of officers should be sacked rather than telling it how it is. Can anyone explain to him how to grow testicles.”
A Met Police spokesman added: “We will relentlessly seek out anyone in our force who corrupts us.”
