Met ‘brushed under the carpet’ claims officer ran grooming gang that sexually abused girls in care, LBC investigation reveals

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We have been told that two women who grew up in care homes in London made complaints about the officer within months of each other in 2012. But, we are unable to name him for legal reasons.

The Met launched a criminal investigation at the time into the allegations made by one of the complainants. She said the officer had abused her multiple times as a child and shared her with other “important men” at a hotel in Park Lane in central London. LBC understands the other men included an MP and a judge.

The victim also claimed that the officer targeted other “pretty girls” who were in the care system over several years.

LBC can reveal the officer was allowed to retire as a Custody Sergeant while under investigation. In 2012, officers under criminal investigation could only retire with permission from a senior officer.

A second allegation was made by a different woman, also in 2012, when she was arrested for a minor offence and saw the officer behind the desk of a custody suite in west London. She told a detective that the custody sergeant had abused her as a child.

An ex senior detective at the force, who had knowledge of the case and whose job it was to investigate sexual abuse and grooming cases, told LBC that the Met didn’t investigate properly and that it was “brushed under the carpet” and “a cover up”.

The Met says it has no record of the second allegation, but is reviewing the initial investigation and is urging anyone with new information to come forward.

The former detective, whose identity we are protecting, said: “This lady had been arrested recently, and when she got into the custody area, she was shocked to see who the custody officer was.

“This lady had been in care as a child and they used to run away from care and come into London. That same officer used to pick her up with other girls sometimes, take them to an address in London where he and several other powerful men would sexually abuse them. She said one of them was a judge.

“I then phoned the on-call Detective Chief Inspector, told him the story, told him that I recognised who it was because of the way he is and that this woman is definitely telling the truth and it needs to be looked at, and he said ‘no problem, leave it with me, I’ll look into it’.

“I naively thought it was being looked at. Then within a month, I was told that he retired. At that point you could not retire if you had an outstanding complaint against you. You couldn’t resign or you could not retire, so I thought it was just brushed under the carpet and that nothing had been done.

“There’s no way he should have been allowed to retire.”

In 2013, a year after the allegations were made, the investigation was closed due to what police at the time described as a lack of evidence, but a senior Westminster councillor who sat in on the police interviews with one of the women said the detectives who had investigated the claims had told the victim they believed her.

Cllr Ruth Bush, who was Labour’s first Lord Mayor of Westminster, told LBC she knew one of the alleged victims and supported her during the investigation. She said the victim told her “he (the officer) would pick her up, put her on his knee and would fondle her, on several occasions, and there was a real depth of distress.

“There were toys in the (police investigation) room, and she cuddled the toys and she needed them. I just sat there quietly while she spoke on the horror that happened to her in her childhood.

“They were all about eight years old, little tiny children, and she said he would only pick the pretty ones, and it was undoubtedly connected to this police officer. Certainly, bad physical and sexual abuse was perpetrated on her and on the others.”

“When I came out of that room, one of the detectives said ‘we believe her, it’s clear’.”

The officer who was investigated currently lives in the north of England. LBC approached him at his house to ask asked about the allegations, he told us “no comment” and closed the door.

A week after receiving a letter detailing the allegations and testimonies gathered during our investigation, the officer replied and said he was investigated and cleared of the allegations, and denies the new claims.

In a statement, he said: "I categorically deny the allegations."

There are also questions as to why the officer was not investigated as part of a major review by the Met looking into allegations of sexual and domestic abuse by officers between the period of 2012-2022.

Operation Onyx was launched in the wake of the high profile scandals of ex officers Wayne Couzens, who murdered Sarah Everard in 2021, and prolific rapist David Carrick, who was jailed for being one of the country’s worst serial rapists.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “We have recently been made aware of serious allegations of non-recent sexual abuse involving a former officer.

“Our Directorate of Professional Standards did receive a complaint about this individual in 2012. At that time, the matter was investigated as both a criminal and misconduct case but was closed in 2013 due to a lack of evidence and inconsistencies in the information provided.

“In light of these new allegations, we will now carefully review the case to establish whether any new information has come to light that was not available during the original investigation.

“This process will be thorough and impartial, and we remain committed to supporting anyone affected throughout.

“We encourage anyone with new information to come forward and speak to us.”