Cliff Mitchell, a 24-year-old former Metropolitan Police officer, has been convicted of 13 counts of rape, including three counts of raping a child, along with kidnap and breaching a non-molestation order. The convictions at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday mark a shocking case of police officer turned perpetrator.
Mitchell was recruited by the Met despite facing an earlier accusation of raping a child between 2014 and 2017, which was initially dropped in 2019. He joined the force in 2021 and was convicted for attacks on a woman from 2020 to 2023, some occurring while he was an active officer. His crimes were uncovered after a passerby witnessed the woman fleeing in Hackbridge, south-west London, screaming that Mitchell had threatened her with a knife.
The woman reported that Mitchell raped her at knifepoint, blindfolded her with his hoodie, taped her mouth, and bound her hands with cable ties before forcing her into his car. She escaped by pretending to be sick. Mitchell used his status as a police officer to intimidate her, claiming no one would believe her. He also told her, “You’ve met the devil,” and bragged that his training equipped him to dispose of bodies.
The Met admitted that a child had reported being raped by Mitchell between 2014 and 2017, but no further action was taken in 2019. After his September 2023 arrest for the woman’s rape, a reinvestigation led to charges for both cases. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy praised the victims’ courage, acknowledging the case damages public trust. The Met has since reformed its vetting procedures, stating that under current rules Mitchell would not have been cleared.
