Category Archives: Metropolitan police

Met chief says ‘toxicity’ around DEI will not stop him recruiting more black and Asian officers

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Mark Rowley says inclusivity is crucial for the force and he refuses to be ‘blown off course’ by critics

Mark Rowley has said the Metropolitan police must recruit more black and Asian officers in order to gain the trust of minority ethnic communities in London, and vowed not to be “blown off course by the culture wars”.

The right has criticised drives for diversity, claiming they lead to lower standards. Rowley, who is commissioner of the Met and Britain’s top police officer, said that as a leader of a major organisation he was prepared to take a stand against the “toxicity” surrounding the diversity debate and criticised other leaders for “running away from the subject”.

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Grenfell police hand files on 20 organisations and 54 people to CPS

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Met calls move ‘milestone’ moment that paves way for ‘very best possible evidence for charging decisions’

Police investigating the Grenfell Tower fire have asked prosecutors to consider charges including manslaughter and fraud against a range of companies and individuals.

The Metropolitan police announced they had given prosecutors evidence relating to 20 companies and organisations and 54 individuals ahead of charging decisions, in what the force described as a “milestone moment”.

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Met chief criticises court system after paedophile granted bail

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Officers left feeling ‘hamstrung’, says Mark Rowley after offender allowed to return to flat overlooking playground

Pressure to cut the number of prisoners on remand has led to “dangerous and prolific offenders” being granted bail, the country’s most senior police officer said after a paedophile was allowed to return to his flat that overlooked a children’s playground.

Zafer Dogan was jailed on Thursday for two years and four months after he was convicted of taking thousands of pictures of women and girls before using AI technology to turn them into nude images for his sexual gratification.

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Nicholas Brandram’s family deny he was ‘Putney pusher’ and say Met police pressure led to his death

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Banker, 44, was arrested in connection with 2017 incident but family say ‘no credible evidence’ he was involved

The family of Nicholas Brandram have denied he was the so-called “Putney pusher” and said he “took his own life after months of immense pressure caused by a Metropolitan police investigation”.

Brandram, 44, was found unresponsive at a property in Chiswick, west London, believed to be his home, on Tuesday evening.

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Police and prosecution errors left proven sex offender free to murder two women in London

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Delays to sexual assault charges and failures to report past convictions in court hearings gave Simon Levy chance to attack more women

• Violence against women: has anything changed in policing since Sarah Everard’s killing?

Catastrophic errors left a persistent and proven sex offender free before he murdered two women in London, it can be revealed.

On Friday, an Old Bailey jury found Simon Levy, 40, guilty of murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins five months later.

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At least five Mohamed Al Fayed abuse survivors confirmed as human-trafficking victims

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Decision comes after group of survivors claimed ex-Harrods owner’s associates must have helped facilitate his crimes

At least five victims of the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed have been confirmed by the Home Office as victims of human trafficking.

A group of survivors of abuse by the deceased businessman had called for the Metropolitan police to make trafficking the main focus of its investigation, arguing that Fayed could not have committed his offences without a steady stream of women sent to him by associates.

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Undercover police unit closed down over unjustified surveillance, spycops inquiry told

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Senior officer behind closure says SDS caused ‘incalculable harm’ by infiltrating groups that posed no threat

An undercover police unit that spied on tens of thousands of political activists had to be shut down amid severe criticisms and recriminations, the spycops public inquiry has heard.

Jon Boutcher, a senior police officer who took over responsibility for the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) unit, concluded within months that it had to be wound up because it was conducting unjustified surveillance and was badly run.

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Five officers injured as police boat strikes Westminster Bridge

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Metropolitan police say officers on marine policing boat are receiving treatment after incident in central London

Five officers have been injured after a police boat struck Westminster Bridge in central London on Friday afternoon.

The Metropolitan police said the incident occurred at about 3.40pm and involved a boat from the marine policing unit.

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Former Met police chief admits force failed to properly control spycops unit

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Paul Condon tells inquiry there was ‘appalling behaviour by individual officers’ but that greater fault was systemic

A former Metropolitan police commissioner has admitted that the force failed over decades to properly control a controversial undercover unit that committed “horrendous” abuses, the spycops inquiry has heard.

Paul Condon said he was appalled by the wrongdoing of the unit, which spent 40 years spying on tens of thousands of political activists.

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Police investigate £500,000 Reform donations from mother of fraudster who backed Farage

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George Cottrell’s mother, Fiona, at centre of criminal inquiry over potential evasion of restrictions on donations

Police are investigating donations worth £500,000 made to Reform UK by the mother of a convicted fraudster and ally of Nigel Farage.

The investigation concerns two donations of £250,000 made by Fiona Cottrell, whose son George has often accompanied Farage to Reform events and media appearances. The May 2024 donations are under investigation over whether they were intended to conceal a donation by an impermissible donor.

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Graham Linehan gets £25,000 compensation and an apology from Met police after arrest

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Father Ted co-creator detained by armed officers at Heathrow airport last year over gender-critical posts on X

The Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has been paid £25,000 in compensation by the Metropolitan police and received an apology after his arrest over his gender-critical social media posts.

Linehan, 57, was detained by armed officers at Heathrow airport last September after a 10-hour flight from Arizona.

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Complaints filed to police watchdog over Met’s handling of Al Fayed abuse allegations

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IOPC confirms complaints from three survivors of alleged sexual misconduct by late Harrods owner in addition to ongoing investigation

Survivors of abuse at the hands of the late Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed have complained to a watchdog about how the Metropolitan police handled allegations.

More than 400 claims of sexual misconduct have been made against Al Fayed, including rape and human trafficking, dating between 1977 and 2014.

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Police stop Tommy Robinson on his way back to London from Russian trip

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Met seizes far-right activist’s phones after he disembarks flight at Heathrow under counter-terrorism provisions

British police say they stopped the far-right activist Tommy Robinson and seized his phones as he returned from a trip to Russia.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, met Elon Musk’s father in Moscow during his trip.

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Inquiry into Post Office Horizon scandal faces five-year delay without extra funding

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Police officer in charge says budget could reach £19.3m and nearly 100 more investigators are needed

The police criminal inquiry into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal faces a five-year delay unless it is handed millions in extra funding and nearly 100 more staff, according to the chief officer in charge.

The Metropolitan police commander Stephen Clayman said he needed to nearly double the number of investigators to 210 to meet a deadline of late next year or early 2028 for submitting files to prosecutors.

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Jewish man in hospital after attack by group of men in Golders Green

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Victim in his 20s was beaten up in north London street having stepped outside to use his phone

A Jewish man is being treated in hospital for injuries to his face and body after being attacked by a number of men in north London.

Police were called in the early hours of Monday morning following reports that a Jewish man had been assaulted by a number of men outside a property on the Grove in Golders Green.

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Met police officers accused of sleeping while on duty protecting royal family

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Unspecified number of officers from royalty and specialist protection team being investigated, force confirms

Police officers accused of being asleep when they were supposed to be protecting the royal family at Windsor Castle have been placed under investigation.

An unspecified number of officers from the Metropolitan police’s royalty and specialist protection team are being investigated after concerns were raised, the force confirmed. The Sun, which first reported the story, said up to 30 officers were involved.

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Brixton drive-by shooting ‘act of indiscriminate violence’, say Met police

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Four people are in hospital, with one 25-year-old man facing life-threatening injuries

A drive-by shooting in Brixton which left four people in hospital on Saturday has been called “an act of indiscriminate violence” by police.

Shots were fired in the early hours on Coldharbour Lane in the south London area, leaving one 25-year-old man in hospital with life-threatening injuries.

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Some pro-Palestinian protests could be banned amid attacks on British Jews

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PM worried about ‘cumulative’ effect of marches, as Met chief says Jewish communities facing biggest threat

Some pro-Palestinian demonstrations could be stopped, the prime minister has warned, as the UK’s most senior police officer said the threat to the Jewish ­community was greater than it had ever been.

Keir Starmer indicated he wanted the language expressed on some protest marches to be subjected to “tougher action” as he sought to allay the fears of British Jews after a series of attacks on their communities in recent weeks.

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Starmer says Polanski ‘is not fit to lead a political party’ after Golders Green police criticism

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Green leader apologises for sharing post that said officers were ‘repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head’ and says he had did so ‘in haste’

Keir Starmer has condemned Zack Polanski as “disgraceful” and unfit to head a political party after the Greens’ leader shared a social media post critical of the way police tackled the suspect in the Golders Green stabbings.

The prime minister said any criticism of the police involved in the arrest was unfair on officers having to make split-second decisions in a moment of potentially grave danger.

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Kensington Gardens reopens after police deem suspicious items non-hazardous

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Officers responded after group claimed to have targeted nearby Israeli embassy with ‘dangerous substances’

Kensington Gardens in London has reopened after the discovery of several suspicious items including two jars containing a powdered substance that was deemed to be non-hazardous, police said.

Officers in protective clothing responded to an incident near the Israeli embassy on Friday after counter-terrorism police investigated a video shared online in which a group claimed to have targeted the embassy with drones carrying “dangerous substances”.

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