The Met began reviewing allegations against officers and staff in the wake of public outrage over Wayne Couzens and David Carrick, who committed violent sexual crimes while serving as Met officers.
The Home Office insisted it was “acting rapidly” to introduce new rules to help forces sack officers who could not hold vetting – an official system used to assess someone’s suitability to work for the police.
If the Met is forced to reinstate another 24 officers previously sacked for failing to meet vetting standards, this cost could be as high as £7 million per year.
Now staff suspected of sexual and domestic abuse could return and claim millions in salary and back pay because of Sgt Di Maria’s “test case”, including one arrested in the United States for trying groom a 13-year-old girl.
The second, Operation Onyx, looked at every completed sexual offence or domestic abuse case involving a police officer or staff member between April 2012 and April 2022, where the allegation did not lead to them being sacked.
