Met Police officers 'accessed Sarah Everard murder files without authorisation'

Seven serving and former Metropolitan Police officers are facing a misconduct hearing over allegations they wrongly accessed confidential reports about the Sarah Everard investigation.

The officers are all accused of logging into the police files without a proper reason, on dates between March 5 and March 15, 2021.

They are: DS Robert Butters, Sgt Mark Harper, PCs Myles McHugh and Clare Tett, and DC Tyrone Ward, as well as Temporary DC Hannah Rebbeck and Inspector Akinwale Ajose-Adeogun who have now left the force.

Ms Everard disappeared on March 3, 2021, after she had been kidnapped at the side of the road in south London by Met Police officer Wayne Couzens.

He abused the Covid restrictions and his power as a police officer to lure Ms Everard into his hired car.

Couzens went on to rape and strangle the 33-year-old marketing executive, before dumping her body in woodland in Kent.

The disappearance was the subject of an intense police investigation, and Couzens was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping on March 9, 2021.

He was charged with kidnap, rape and murder, and is now serving a whole life prison sentence.

McHugh is accused of accessing a police system “on multiple occasions” between March 5 and 9 “relating to the disappearance of Sarah Everard”.

Ajose-Adeogun is also accused of multiple breaches between March 10 and 12, and Harper faces the same allegation between March 10 and 13.

Rebbeck allegedly accessed the police system to look at the Everard investigation multiple times between March 10 and 15, and Ward is accused of doing the same between March 10 and 11.

Tett and Butters are both accused of a single breach each on March 10.

The Met said its Directorate of Professional Standards carried out an audit of access to the investigation files during the time when Ms Everard was missing and after Couzens had been identified as the prime suspect.

All of the accused officers are not said to have had a proper policing purpose for their actions.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said: “First and foremost our thoughts remain with Sarah Everards’s family. We have kept them updated throughout the investigation and have apologised to them for the added distress this has caused.

“All Met officers and staff should have no doubt of the rules around accessing files and they know there must be a legitimate policing purpose to do so. As well as mandatory training on this issue, they are regularly reminded of our policies when logging into IT systems.

“It is right this was subject to an investigation. It will now be for the hearing panel to look at all of the evidence and decide whether conduct matters are proven for any of these individuals.”

The misconduct hearing is set to start on October 28, and is listed to last until November 15.

The officers face claims they breached confidentiality, as well as their orders and instructions and were responsible for “discreditable conduct”.