Serving Met officer sacked over accessing confidential Sarah Everard files
A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been sacked after accessing confidential files about the case of Sarah Everard .
PC Myles McHugh was among three officers who were found to have committed gross misconduct at a three-week disciplinary tribunal in south east London.
On Friday, the tribunal panel said trainee detective constable Hannah Rebbeck, who had also accessed sensitive data, also would have been dismissed without notice if she had not already left the force.
Marketing executive Ms Everard, 33, was kidnapped, raped and murdered by then-serving Met officer Wayne Couzens over the course of March 3 and 4 2021.
Both McHugh's and Rebbeck's actions were described by the panel as an "egregious breach of the trust".
Sergeant Mark Harper was handed a final written warning, to last for three years.
Wayne Couzens abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard (Metropolitan Police/PA)PA MediaMcHugh had looked at information about Ms Everard's medical history, relationships, employment and lifestyle.
The panel said his behaviour was at the "higher end of harm" as he was dismissed without notice for repeatedly accessing the police system on matters which had nothing to do with his duties.
He looked at personal data which was "very sensitive" and "he attempted to discuss what he had seen with his colleagues", according to panel chairwoman Sharmistha Michaels.
She said he acted out of a "curiosity" about the investigation as he accessed data "extensively and accumulatively" but stopped looking for the information after Couzens was arrested.
Read More Three Met Police officers guilty of accessing secret Sarah Everard files Harry can see emails between Sun publisher and Royal Household, judge rules One-year-old boy dies after High Court rules life support should stopRebbeck's "highly blameworthy" conduct included looking at "very sensitive" personal data out of a "morbid curiosity about the disappearance of Sarah Everard", the panel said.
Ms Michaels said "she did so after it was announced that a Metropolitan Police officer had been arrested" and this "had nothing to do with her police duties".
Her behaviour was placed at the "highest end of seriousness".
The panel also noted the misconduct happened at a time of national concern.
There were multiple breaches of standards of professional behaviour, failure to seek guidance from colleagues, and Rebbeck had failed to engage with the misconduct proceedings.
Sgt Harper, who works in a Croydon custody unit, was given a final written warning.
The material he saw related to Couzens and he had accessed it out of professional "curiosity" to see how charging decisions were progressing and not for information on Ms Everard.
The panel took the view the information he looked at contained limited detail and he did not look at more sensitive areas. There was no evidence it impacted the investigation but it had undermined public confidence in the police.
His actions were deemed to be at the lower-to-mid scale of seriousness.
He is still working as a custody sergeant but with certain restrictions, the panel said.
After the hearing, the Met said the panel heard that PC McHugh accessed the information while off duty and for a significant period of time, while Rebbeck was found to have repeatedly accessed sensitive data without any link to her duties.
The panel ruled the breaches of professional standards were so serious that the only appropriate outcome was dismissal.
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