Met officer watched Sarah Everard’s x-rays out of ‘curiosity’, court hears

A Scotland Yard trainee detective accessed secret X-rays of Sarah Everard because he was “curious” about the murder investigation, a misconduct hearing was told.

Three former and four current Metropolitan Police officers appeared before a gross misconduct hearing over accusations they read undercover police reports about Ms Everard and her killer Wayne Couzens to satisfy their “personal curiosity about a high-profile case in the public eye”.

Former officers involved include Inspector Akinwale Ajose-Adeogun, trainee Det Con Hannah Rebbeck and Sergeant Robert Butter. The officers serving are Det Sgt Mark Harper, Pc Myles McHugh, Pc Clare Tett and Det Con Tyrone Ward.

They are all said to have accessed “sensitive and confidential” reports relating to the investigation into Ms Everard’s disappearance in March 2021 and Couzens’ subsequent arrest.

Ms Rebbeck is accused of mistakenly viewing X-rays of Ms Everard, a week after she was abducted, raped and strangled on March 3.

The 33-year-old’s body was found dumped in woodland in Kent on March 10. Couzens was charged with kidnapping, rape and murder and is currently serving a life sentence.

Evidence documents

The panel heard how Ms Rebbeck, who was not represented at the hearing and did not attend, accessed Ms Everard’s x-ray examinations between March 10 and March 15.

It was also heard that he had accessed police reports, secret files and Crown Prosecution Service evidentiary documents.

The panel was told he resigned after the allegations emerged and when questioned at the time said he “felt curious, concerned and invested in the outcome of the investigation”.

All officers and former officers except Ms Rebbeck admitted accessing police files without proper reason between March 5 and March 15, but denied that their behavior amounted to gross misconduct.

Four serving officers face dismissal from Scotland Yard after the Met uncovered the misconduct following an internal investigation codenamed Operation Scarborough.

A misconduct hearing chaired by Sharmistha Michaels in Southwark, south London, heard officers gave “completely false” accounts of their actions when questioned.

The panel was told officers were reviewing secret custody records of Couzens, who was detained at Wandsworth Police Station following Ms Everard’s murder.

Other sensitive information accessed included witness statements, investigation records, the crimes for which Couzens was arrested, and the circumstances of his arrest.

‘It has nothing to do with their duties’

Paul Ozin KC, representing the Met, said in his opening statement: “It is inadvisable for these seven officers to put their heads together and act together.

“What they did was completely separate and related to circumstances that were individual to each of them.

He continued: “We say that the purpose of each of these seven individuals in accessing the confidential data of the officer in question had nothing to do with their police positions or policing duties.

“This was all about their own personal curiosity about a high-profile case in the public eye, and when further facts emerged it was a case involving a Met Police officer accused of the most appalling crimes.

“Each deliberately chose to abuse their privileged position, which gave them access to confidential and sensitive police data purely for the purpose of satisfying their own personal curiosity.”

The official added that each of the officers was “completely disingenuous in their statements” and in some cases made statements that were “completely false on fundamental grounds” in an attempt to “cover their tracks”.

Mr. Özin said the behavior of police officers and their “deliberate disregard” for the sensitivity of police information damaged the reputation of the police force”, “21. He said it was “inconsistent with the values ​​and standards of policing in the 21st century” and led to “disrepute management”.

He said it was no coincidence that police officers were “intensified” after Oct. 10, the day Couzens was arrested. At that moment, Mr. Ozin said, the case was “of the highest interest, not only from the public but also from police officers.”

storage inspector

Mr Ajose-Adeogun, a custody support inspector in Croydon and Bromley, was accused of accessing Couzens’ custody records, medical records and risk assessment between March 10 and March 12.

Mr Ajose-Adeogun, who had no responsibility for the Wandsworth custody suite where Couzens was detained, claimed he did so by mistake in an email sent on 23 April 2021. He also claimed that he frequently read custody records due to his “insatiable appetite for knowledge and personal growth.”

But Mr Ozin said the explanation that it was an honest mistake was “not worthy of belief”, given that Mr Ajose-Adeogun had repeatedly accessed information and that it was “purely out of personal curiosity and not carrying out any policing role”.

The panel heard that around eight months after completing the training, Ms Rebbeck downloaded various confidential witness statements, a sales receipt and x-rays relating to Ms Everard and warned her not to “surf” police databases for confidential information.

The trainee accessed the data on 10, 12 and 15 March 2021 and later claimed he was instructed to process a prisoner from a neighboring cell to Couzens at Wandsworth police station.

But the panel heard he was unable to provide any information that would identify the prisoner’s name or identity.

Mr Özin said it was clear that much of what he said was “completely false” and had been made up by him to “minimise his guilt”.

Ms Rebbeck said Ms Everard lived close to where she was abducted in Clapham and “like everyone in her area, especially the women, she was anxious and emotional”.

Mr. Ozin acknowledged that he was the most outspoken of the seven officers “in admitting that his access was motivated by curiosity.”

The trial continues.