Met Police loses challenge over vetting of officer accused of rape

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the ruling has ‘left policing in a hopeless position’. The Metropolitan Police cannot dismiss officers by removing their vetting clearance, the High Court has ruled, in a case which the force warned could render them powerless to sack rogue officers facing allegations of rape and domestic abuse. The force defended a judicial review brought by a sergeant whose vetting was revoked following a series of unproven complaints about his conduct, including rape and sexual assault. He denies the allegations and has not been charged with, nor convicted of, any offence.

Sgt Lino Di Maria argued the decision to revoke his vetting – which will likely lead to his dismissal – is unlawful and challenged updated vetting procedures designed to root out rogue officers in a High Court hearing last month. However assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor warned the consequences could be “disastrous” and render the force powerless to strip unsuitable officers of their warrant card. It could also force them to reinstate sacked officers and leave the force liable for thousands in backpay in a worst-case scenario, he said following the hearing.

In a judgment handed down on Tuesday, Mrs Justice Lang ruled the force cannot dismiss officers by removing their vetting clearance. "The process deprives the officer of any meaningful opportunity to challenge a finding of gross incompetence,” she said. "The panel merely confirms a decision that has already been made, by an internal vetting regime which is not Article 6 (right to a fair trial) compliant. Where basic vetting clearance has been withdrawn, the only outcome open to the panel is dismissal.".

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the ruling has "left policing in a hopeless position'' and the force is seeking leave to appeal. The judgment "has significant implications for the work the Met is now doing to clean up the force'', the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan added. Sgt Di Maria was accused of assaulting a woman, who he met at the gym, in a Tesco carpark and as she was leaving the gym on two dates in 2018. The court heard he insisted the encounters were consensual and a criminal investigation resulted in no further action after the woman withdrew her support for the investigation.

Police also received reports alleging he touched a British Transport Police officer’s leg and exposed himself to her in 2015. Sgt Di Maria said it was consensual and the complainant later retracted the allegation. Further reports were received alleging domestic abuse towards an ex-partner in 2022, inappropriate workplace behaviour in 2021 and sending inappropriate messages to a colleague in 2019. Sgt Di Maria denies any wrongdoing, and independent police misconduct processes found the sergeant, who joined the force in 2004 and last passed his vetting in 2017, had “no case to answer” over the complaints.

However, he was referred for vetting review, after his case was flagged as part of Operation Onyx, a probe into domestic and sexual abuse allegations against Met staff launched in the wake of a series of scandals, including the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens. Sgt Di Maria had his vetting removed in September 2023 and an appeal against this decision was refused. He launched a judicial review ahead of a “gross incompetence” hearing, which will likely result in his dismissal.

The sergeant challenged the “vetting dismissal” process he was subject to under Operation Assure, the Met’s program to root out rogue officers. Kevin Baumber, counsel for Sgt Di Maria, argued it was a concern that an officer could go through a “detailed” conduct procedure, which concludes that “they need not be dismissed”, only to be fired following an “internal management decision anyway”.

He told the hearing last month that the officer was challenging the Met’s decision on a number of grounds, including his right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. John Beggs KC, leading the Met’s legal team, said the case raised the “fundamental issue” of whether a chief officer is entitled to sack officers who cannot clear the basic vetting procedures.

“Vetting is crucial to the integrity of the police service, to the confidence that a chief officer of police can have in their officers, and to public confidence in the police”, he said in written arguments submitted to the court. The majority of those referred to Operation Assure were men identified in a ten-year review of historic allegations of sexual misconduct and domestic abuse made against officers.

Of 107 officers and staff who have had their vetting withdrawn under Op Assure, so far 19 people have been dismissed and 19 have resigned. Those dismissed include an officer who received multiple rape and sexual assault allegations from different women from 2011-23, which could not be proved to a criminal or professional misconduct standard. After his vetting was revoked and he was dismissed, the force continued to investigate and he was later charged, although the officer has since died.