Police officer sacked after three guilty of gross misconduct over access to Everard murder files
A police officer has been sacked after he and two others were found guilty of gross misconduct for accessing files relating to the murder of Sarah Everard, a tribunal has found.
Everard, who was just 33 at the time, was brutally murdered by then-serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens in Clapham, south London, in March 2021.
Metropolitan Police Constable Myles McHugh has since been sacked over the misconduct.
Former Scotland Yard Detective Constable Hannah Rebbeck would have been sacked had she not previously resigned, the tribunal added.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Mark Harper was given a final written warning, which will last for three years.
The offences took place soon after Everard as kidnapped and killed between March 5 and March 15 in 2021.
In a statement, the Met Police said: “The panel heard that PC McHugh accessed the information while off duty and for a significant period of time, while former DC Hannah Rebbeck was found to have repeatedly accessed sensitive data without any link to her duties.
“These breaches of professional standards were so serious that the only appropriate outcome was dismissal.”
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Three other police officers – Detective Constable Tyrone Ward, former Inspector Akinwale Ajose-Adeogun and former Detective Sergeant Robert Butters – appeared at the same misconduct hearing.
However, the tribunal found that the trio “did have a legitimate reason” for accessing the information.
Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life order in September 2021 after pleading guilty to abducting, raping and murdering Everard.
He strangled the marketing executive with his police belt after kidnapping her under the guise of a fake arrest as she walked home.
Everard’s death brought violence against women and girls into sharp focus, with a series of protests and demonstrations following soon after.
Women then marched on Clapham Common as part of a major protest against the situation.
Today’s tribunal hearing comes shortly after former Metropolitan Police officer David Carrick pleaded not guilty to eight sex offences against a woman and a girl.
The 49-year-old is accused of two counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of coercive and controlling behaviour against a woman between 2014 and 2019.