Met Police fights High Court battle for right to sack 'rogue' officers
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Scotland Yard has warned it could face a “hopeless” position of being unable to sack rogue officers if it loses a High Court battle over the process used to vet its staff. The Met is facing a judicial review from Sergeant Lino Di Maria, who was stripped of his warrant card over past allegations of rape and domestic abuse.
Sgt Di Maria did not face criminal proceedings or misconduct hearings over the allegations – which he denies. But he failed a fresh vetting process, during Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s drive to identify potentially rogue officers who had faced past complaints about their conduct.
Sgt Di Maria has challenged the lawfulness of the process which has left him facing dismissal, and brings a host of complaints including a claim that his human rights would be breached without a fair hearing of his case. But John Beggs KC, leading the Met’s legal team, argued in the High Court on Wednesday that police chiefs must have the power 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 set out, in written arguments. “Vetting, and the ability to exclude officers who cannot maintain vetting clearance is, for instance, critical to ensuring that those who pose a risk of violence and sexual impropriety against women and girls are identified, risk to female members of the public and officers is reduced, and their confidence in the police is increased.”.
