The Metropolitan Police cannot dismiss officers or staff it deems unsuitable as a result of removal of their vetting clearance, the High Court has ruled.
Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Police Commissioner said the judgment “left policing in a hopeless position” and that the service would seek leave to appeal.
In a statement, Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: “This decision has significant implications for the work the Met is now doing to clean up the force, raise standards and rid the police of all those unfit to serve.”
He added: “No one who has failed vetting should continue to serve in the force and we will work closely with the Commissioner, the Home Office and partners to assess the implications of this ruling.”
Police vetting
Automated police vetting system being explored
In what is seen as a test case, challenging the Met’s clean-up operation to rid the force of “rogue” officers, Sgt Lino Di Maria launched a judicial review arguing that the decision to revoke his vetting clearance was unlawful.
The clampdown followed a series of scandals at the Met in the wake of serving Met police officer Wayne Couzens’ conviction for the rape and murder of Sarah Everard in 2021.
Di Maria’s clearance was withdrawn after unproven allegations about his conduct, including sexual assault and rape, which he denies. He has not been charged with or convicted of any offence.
In her judgment, Mrs Justice Lang said the Met’s powers do not extend to the dismissal of a police officer by reason of withdrawal of vetting clearance.
“Dismissal is a matter which should be provided for in regulations made by the Secretary of State under section 50(3) of the Police Act 1996,” she said. “This results in an anomalous situation where officers who do not have basic vetting clearance cannot be dismissed by the Defendant. In my view, that anomaly could and should be resolved by regulations.”
Commissioner Rowley said: “For more than two decades police leaders have been asking government for greater powers to sack officers who are not fit to wear the uniform. For two-and-a half-years I have repeated that call and successive Governments have promised change.
“Tens of thousands of good officers joined the police because we care deeply about public safety. The majority of the Met is committed to this drive to clear out those who threaten our collective integrity. This makes us better placed to protect communities.”
He said that being able to sack officers who fail vetting is critical and that in the past 18 months: 96 officers have been sacked or resigned due to vetting removal; 29 are on special vetting leave, having lost their vetting clearance; and over 100 are in the early stages of vetting reviews.
‘Hopeless position’
“Those we have removed vetting from, had a pattern of behaviour that meant if they applied to work in policing today, we’d never let them in,” said Rowley. “But today’s ruling on the law has left policing in a hopeless position.
“We now have no mechanism to rid the Met of officers who are not fit to hold vetting – those who cannot be trusted to work with women or enter the homes of vulnerable people.
“It is absurd that we cannot lawfully sack them – this would not be the case in other sectors where staff have nothing comparable to the powers a police officer holds.”
Last month, Rowley described the Metropolitan Police Federation, which backed Di Maria’s case, as “crazy” for launching the judicial review.
Matt Cane, general secretary, said the MPF was “frankly astonished” by his comments at the time.
”Surely the country’s most senior police officer should recognise the law and operate within it. And not be labelling as ‘crazy’ an organisation that wants its police service to operate within our country’s laws – rather than breaking them,” he said.
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