A child rapist who was hired by the Met Police had his rejection overturned by a vetting panel aiming to improve diversity.
Cliff Mitchell, who carried out a “campaign of rape” on two victims over nine years, was among Metropolitan Police officers who were not properly checked.
The 26-year-old joined the force after the panel overturned a decision to reject him from the police despite a previous accusation of raping a child.
He was convicted in May 2024 of 13 counts of rape, including six counts against a child.
It is the latest in a series of blunders by New Scotland Yard, as details revealed today that Mitchell was among 25 officers given a second chance who went on to commit criminal offences or misconduct, including violence, sex attacks and drug use.
A review published this morning found the Met failed to carry out a range of vital background and reference checks on more than 20,000 applicants between 2013 and 2023.
Senior officers at the Met chose not to meet national guidelines amid a scramble to find 4,557 recruits in a three-and-a-half year period.
The deviations from standard practice meant thousands of references were not checked, and shortcuts in vetting led to the recruitment and retention of some officers and staff who should not have been in the force and contributed to police-perpetrated harm and damaged public trust, it said.
Mitchell, of Wandsworth, south-west London is currently serving a jail sentence
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MET POLICE
In the last decade, the Met has been hit with a series of scandals involving serving officers who had slipped through the safety net.
This includes Wayne Couzens, who went on to murder Sarah Everard, and David Carrick, who was given 37 life sentences for his crimes.
An enquiry into Couzens found there were “red flags about his unsuitability for office” which went unnoticed.
Meanwhile, Carrick was not properly vetted in 2017, with checks failing to reveal an allegation of domestic abuse against him.
LATEST MET POLICE FAILINGS
David Carrick was sentenced to life | PA
Wayne Couzens murdered Sarah Everard in March 2021
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HANDOUT
A report on vetting in 2022 that examined eight forces raised a series of concerns including a failure to check references as well as issues with vetting.
The forces inspected at the time were Metropolitan Police, Kent Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Cumbria, South Wales, Nottinghamshire, Dorset and Devon and Cornwall.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Abandoning vetting checks on officers was a dereliction of the Met’s duty to keep London safe.
“Londoners rightly expect officers to undergo robust checks so that the brightest and best, not criminals, are policing our streets.
“I have asked the Chief Inspector of Constabulary to carry out an inspection as I seek to restore trust in the force’s ability to protect and serve the public.”
Shabana Mahmood has ordered the review
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PASpeaking about today’s report on GB News, former Met Police Detective Peter Bleksley said Britons have “paid the price” for “appalling” Met Police vetting process.
He said: “I’m saddened for the really good police officers, those who join that want to serve the public, that want to help people in their moment of need, and then they have to end up working alongside monsters like that.
“But there’s one word this morning that’s missing from from Shabana Mahmood’s understandable outrage, from the words of senior police officers and, of course, the inspector who are going to do a thorough inquiry. There’s one important word missing and that is accountability.
“Who is going to be held accountable for making such dreadful decisions to allow these people in? Who’s responsible for lowering the bar? Who made that policy? That senior police officer needs to be named, shamed and sent packing from policing.”
Peter Bleksley raged at the Met Police over the announcement
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GB NewsAssistant Commissioner Rachel Williams said: “In publishing this report today, we are being open and transparent about past vetting and recruitment practices that led, in some cases, to unsuitable people joining the Met.
“We have been honest with Londoners on many occasions about previous shortcomings in our professional standards approach.
“This review is part of our ongoing work to demand the highest standards across the Met so the public can have trust and confidence in our officers.
“We found that some historical practices did not meet the strengthened hiring and vetting standards we have today.
“We identified these issues ourselves and have fixed them quickly while making sure any risk to the public has been properly and effectively managed.
“It is important to highlight that the Met recruits hundreds of officers and staff every year, the overwhelming majority of exemplary character who are dedicated to protecting the public.”
The Met Police confirmed they were being ‘being open and transparent’
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PAChairwoman of the Metropolitan Police Federation Paula Dodds said: “Today’s report illustrates a farcical situation in which hitting a numerical target of recruits has taken precedence over normal checks and balances.
“The good, brave and hard-working colleagues we represent are the first to say that the small minority of officers who are not fit to serve should not be in the police service.”
