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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Kieren Williams

Female Met Police officer 'forcibly undressed' by male cop and made to sit on his lap

A female Met Police officer was “forcibly undressed” by a male officer in a patrol car, and forced to sit on his lap.

The horrific revelations emerged in the blistering Baroness Casey Review which found “fundamental problems” in how the police force is run.

The bombshell report, commissioned after the murder of Sarah Everard, found the Met Police was institutionally racist, homophobic, and misogynistic and said if it didn’t change it should be abolished in the next five years.

It said the hubristic force had a “we know best” attitude and often ignored, or dug in to defend, officers’ behaviour.

Among the countless details to be released by the review, there was one case study centred around a female officer, who - like many others - was subject to sickening treatment at the hands of her male colleagues.

The Met Police was said to have a 'we know best' attitude (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

She was sexually assaulted by a more senior male colleague on a number of occasions.

This included masturbating in front of her in a communal changing room and forcibly undressing her in a patrol car, only stopping when a member of the public drove by.

The female officer, referred to in the report as L, said the male officer would “frequently touch her inappropriately; forcing her to sit on his lap, touching her on intimate parts of her body while she was getting changed”.

On one particularly sickening occasion, the male officer began forcibly undressing her when they were out on duty together and he only stopped when a member of the public drove past.

He would also deliberately bruise” her arms claiming to be demonstrating “officer safety moves”.

Baroness Casey of Blackstock led the review of culture and standards at the Metropolitan Police in the wake of Sarah Everard's murder (PA)

This would not just happen while out on patrol but also when on Met Police premises.

Alongside her horrific treatment of L, the male officer also bullied and verbally abused another female officer.

When L did build up the courage to report the male officer to her sergeant, after months of abuse in the workplace, “nothing was done, and the sexual assaults continued”, the damning report said.

The female officer reported him a second time but was asked if she wanted to “go down the misconduct route” or pursue a criminal case.

She was warned that if she did the latter, it would mean everyone would know what happened to her, and she felt like she was persuaded to "keep it in house".

She told the Baroness Casey Review: “[Superior] was making it seem like my husband’s going to know, everyone’s going to know, so I decided on the misconduct route.”

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Despite her undertaking a video interview, and having a witness providing a full written account, she would only find out by chance months later that the case had been dismissed.

She was made aware of this when she bumped into an officer in the corridor who said “sorry about how it [the case] went, but that’s how it goes”.

L spoke to the Directorate of Professional Standards to challenge the decision but was told: “it’s your word against his” and that her abuser had a “long, unblemished career in the Met”.

No further action was taken against her abuser who got off free, and retired from the force.

Following the case, the female officer was branded a liar and a troublemaker, as well as being ostracised by her colleagues.

She told the review it made the workplace feel like a “boys’ club”.

Her mental health was severely affected and the Met offered her no specialist support.

After she was off work long-term due to sickness, she said the Met was currently trying to dismiss her.

During the dismissal process, she said she was sent documentation by the Met which falsely claimed that the misconduct case was not pursued because she had not wanted to proceed with the investigation.

“It would have probably been better to suffer in silence, but I couldn’t do that. He got away with everything, I was made to look like the liar,” she said.

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