Serving Met officer sacked over accessing confidential Sarah Everard files

On Friday, the tribunal panel said trainee detective constable Hannah Rebbeck, who had also accessed sensitive data, also would have been dismissed without notice if she had not already left the force.

Marketing executive Ms Everard, 33, was kidnapped, raped and murdered by then-serving Met officer Wayne Couzens over the course of March 3 and 4 2021.

Both McHugh’s and Rebbeck’s actions were described by the panel as an “egregious breach of the trust”.

Sergeant Mark Harper was handed a final written warning, to last for three years.

McHugh had looked at information about Ms Everard’s medical history, relationships, employment and lifestyle.

The panel said his behaviour was at the “higher end of harm” as he was dismissed without notice for repeatedly accessing the police system on matters which had nothing to do with his duties.

He looked at personal data which was “very sensitive” and “he attempted to discuss what he had seen with his colleagues”, according to panel chairwoman Sharmistha Michaels.

She said he acted out of a “curiosity” about the investigation as he accessed data “extensively and accumulatively” but stopped looking for the information after Couzens was arrested.

Rebbeck’s “highly blameworthy” conduct included looking at “very sensitive” personal data out of a “morbid curiosity about the disappearance of Sarah Everard”, the panel said.

Ms Michaels said “she did so after it was announced that a Metropolitan Police officer had been arrested” and this “had nothing to do with her police duties”.

Her behaviour was placed at the “highest end of seriousness”.

The panel also noted the misconduct happened at a time of national concern.

There were multiple breaches of standards of professional behaviour, failure to seek guidance from colleagues, and Rebbeck had failed to engage with the misconduct proceedings.

Sgt Harper, who works in a Croydon custody unit, was given a final written warning.

The material he saw related to Couzens and he had accessed it out of professional “curiosity” to see how charging decisions were progressing and not for information on Ms Everard.

The panel took the view the information he looked at contained limited detail and he did not look at more sensitive areas. There was no evidence it impacted the investigation but it had undermined public confidence in the police.

His actions were deemed to be at the lower-to-mid scale of seriousness.

He is still working as a custody sergeant but with certain restrictions, the panel said.

Misconduct allegations were brought against four serving officers, Pc McHugh, Pc Clare Tett, Detective Constable Tyrone Ward and Sgt Harper, as well as three who have resigned since the investigation, Detective Sergeant Robert Butters, trainee Detective Constable Rebbeck, and Inspector Akinwale Ajose-Adeogun.

They were accused of accessing the police system in March 2021 in relation to Ms Everard’s case and this was not undertaken in the course of their duties.

They were accused of breaching the Met’s standards of professional behaviour, in respect of confidentiality, discreditable conduct, and orders and instructions.

Detective Constable Ward, former Inspector Ajose-Adeogun and former Detective Sergeant Butters were not found to have breached professional standards.

Based on the evidence heard, the panel concluded that they did have a legitimate reason for accessing the relevant information and consequently did not breach the standards of police professional behaviour, the Metropolitan Police said.

The force said that another serving officer will face a separate gross misconduct hearing on a date to be set.

None of the officers or staff had direct involvement in the criminal investigation into Ms Everard’s murder, and no evidence was found that any individual had inappropriately shared information with any other individual.

After the hearing, the Met said the panel heard that Pc McHugh accessed the information while off duty and for a significant period of time, while Rebbeck was found to have repeatedly accessed sensitive data without any link to her duties.

The panel ruled the breaches of professional standards were so serious that the only appropriate outcome was dismissal.

After the hearing Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said: “Today as always, our thoughts remain with Sarah Everard’s family and friends.

“We have apologised to them for the added distress this case has caused and I recognise the wider questions and concerns this raises.

“Our officers and staff are regularly reminded that police systems and specific files must only be accessed where there is a legitimate policing purpose to do so.

“This includes reminder screens and warning pages when logging on to our software systems, as well as mandatory training on information management which must be completed by everyone within the organisation.

“It is clear the panel has carefully considered the circumstances of each individual case before coming to their conclusion that three officers had no acceptable reason for looking at this information.”