A former 999 call-handler is taking the Metropolitan Police to tribunal after the force reinstated a colleague she had reported for discriminatory behaviour.
Issy Vine has accused the Met of breaking its promise to listen to whistleblowers after a damning report by Baroness Louise Casey found it to be institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic.
A fellow call-handler made a series of comments including describing a rape victim as a “slut”, and was sacked in November 2023.
The first of these comments happened as Vine was taking a report from a woman alleging she had been raped, when the colleague covered his mouth and said: “She sounds like a slut”.
She later took a call from an immigrant, at which point the colleague showed her his phone displaying the message “Why don’t you go back to your own country?”
Police culture
On another occasion, he referred to the Clapham area of London as “Sarah Everard turf”, referring to the woman who was kidnapped, raped and killed by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens in March 2021.
The Met has since reinstated the colleague, telling Vine that the original disciplinary panel was too heavily influenced by the Casey review. On appeal, he was told he would receive a written warning, because it would be “too harsh” for him to lose his job.
Talking to BBC London about her experience, Vine said she had been shocked by the colleague’s “confidence” in making such comments because employees had received a great deal of communication from Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley on what the force was doing to stamp out sexism, racism and homophobia.
Discussing his successful appeal, she added: “I honestly could not understand it. It didn’t make sense from everything they’d said in the investigation, everything the Met says about what they are stamping out, what they don’t want to tolerate any more.”
Vine lodged a grievance in late 2024 but resigned in December after saying she felt unable to carry on, and that she was concerned she might have to work with the colleague in future.
New measures were introduced in April, meaning police chiefs will be able to automatically dismiss officers who fail background screening as part of a radical overhaul of vetting procedures and workplace culture.
Despite promises to instil a “speak-up” culture within the force, the Met continues to face controversy, with one officer dismissed for antisemitic language last year, and claims that bullying contributed to an officer’s suicide.
In a statement to the BBC, Met Police Commander Jason Prins said: “These discriminatory comments were entirely unacceptable, which is why this matter was brought to a misconduct hearing.
“We take the former staff member’s concerns about the outcome of the misconduct process extremely seriously and it has been subject to a thorough review.”
Vine is taking the Met to tribunal for constructive dismissal, sexual harassment, whistleblowing detriment and a failure to make reasonable adjustments, and her hearing will be in January 2026, she said.
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