A former police superintendent who was the Met’s most senior female black officer is suing over claims she was forced out in a racist witch-hunt that “destroyed” her.
Robyn Williams, 60, claims she fell victim to “campaign of attack” against black and ethnic minority officers, and suggested the senior leadership at Scotland Yard is made up of a “white female clique” together with “white male pitbulls”.
The Met denies the allegations and is fighting the case at a tribunal.
Williams was convicted in 2019 of possessing a video of child sexual abuse which had been sent to her on WhatsApp by her sister, and sentenced to 200 hours of community service.
The Old Bailey trial heard Williams did not report the video to her police colleagues, but she insists that is because she did not see the 54-second clip.
After her conviction, the Met sacked Williams but the decision was overturned following an appeal to a tribunal.
The Met lost a subsequent High Court challenge, and then Williams was charged with multiple alleged breaches of her sexual offender notification requirements.
She was accused of failing to give police details of her bank cards and notify the force of a trip she took overseas, in charges that were denied and ultimately abandoned before trial.
Williams, the recipient of the prestigious Queen’s Police Medal during a 39-year career in the Met and Nottinghamshire police, is now suing for racial and sexual discrimination, harassment and victimisation, the Times reports.
She says there was a six-year campaign to get rid of her, before she ultimately resigned in 2024 citing poor mental and physical health.
She told the employment tribunal she believes the criminal case brought against her over the video clip of the young girl being sexually abused would have been handled differently if she was a white man.
“Despite my absolutely unblemished record, this crime was prosecuted in a way determined to take me down”, she said, claiming the senior investigator “went for” her because he was “angry” she had supported a colleague who had complained of racism and bullying.
“I was their most successful and award-winning black female officer and they destroyed me”, she added.
The judge at the Old Bailey accepted that there was no sexual element to the crime, after she was convicted by a jury.
Williams says she felt she had a “target” on her back when she returned to work, in “extreme distress” and while “overwhelmed psychologically”.
Williams says the second criminal case, over alleged breaches of her sexual offender notifications, was an attempt to get her to accept a police caution which would have then led to disciplinary proceedings and dismissal.
In her statement to the tribunal, she called it a “set-up”.
“If you get beyond your station as a black woman, we’ll take you out”, she added.
When the case was abandoned, the charges were left to lie on file, meaning that technically they could be resurrected in the future.
Keith Bryant KC, representing Scotland Yard, accused Williams of making “sweeping” generalisations and “embellishing” her story, The Times reports.
The three-week tribunal continues.
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