Serial rapists including David Carrick and Cliff Mitchell remained in the Metropolitan Police due to failures in vetting checks between 2013 and 2023, an internal review has found. The review revealed that more than 5,000 officers and staff were recruited without proper checks, and approximately 17,000 could not be confirmed as having had pre-employment vetting.
The Met's report identified 1,400 officers who should have been flagged by vetting but were left in the force with police powers. Of these, 131 committed criminal or misconduct offences, ranging from rape and drug crimes to hate offences and being intoxicated on duty. The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, described abandoning vetting checks as 'a dereliction of the Met’s duty to keep London safe'.
Among those who joined or stayed due to defective vetting was Cliff Mitchell, hired despite an unproven child rape allegation and later convicted of 10 counts of rape. David Carrick, who used his status as a Met officer to commit 48 rapes, was able to pass revetting in 2017 despite previous complaints against him.
The review blamed a 'highly pressurised environment' for the failings, particularly during the government's Police Uplift Programme, which aimed to recruit 20,000 officers between 2020 and 2023. The Met admitted that relaxing safeguards led to problems, and some staff responsible for the decisions remain employed.
Met Assistant Commissioner Rachel Williams said the force had fixed the issues and strengthened hiring standards. Since Sir Mark Rowley became commissioner in 2022, 1,500 officers have been removed. The Home Office has commissioned an inspection of the Met's recruitment and vetting practices by HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary.
