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.
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.
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’.
“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.
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.
