Met officer 'caught in sex tape at paedophile's house never questioned' - whistleblower

A Met Police sergeant caught on a secretly-filmed sex tape at a paedophile's home was never questioned about the incident, claim former colleagues.

Whistleblowing ex-officers from the South London Child Abuse Investigation Team (CAIT) revealed a horde of illicit videos were recovered from the home of a suspected paedophile during a police raid.

But, other than the child sex content they'd expected to find, investigating officers discovered videos of a string of men having sex with the paedophile's wife, including a colleague they recognised who was in full uniform.

They say the officer in the video even had his radio switched on, suggesting he was on duty at the time.

The Met has said it is "not aware of any evidence being provided to the Met that substantiates this allegation".

But Tom Coling, the lead officer in the case, said he identified the sergeant by his shoulder number - also visible in the secretly-filmed video - and was told by senior colleagues to write to him.

However, after this elicited no response from the officer, Coling, who has now left the force, said no further action was taken.

His claims were backed by another former detective from the same CAIT unit, Jan Pyle.

Both officers left the force in 2014, and are now alleging failures of the Met to investigate the incident.

The officer in the video continued to work for the force and even rose to a more senior rank before being sacked for unrelated sexual misconduct.

Although the paedophile's wife was initially charged with voyeurism offences in relation to the illicit videos, the charges were later dropped.

The unnamed paedophile was charged with child sex offences.

Coling believes the dropping of the voyeurism charges was at least in part due to the "embarrassment" which would have been caused to the force if the officer's appearance at the woman's house came out in court.

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"I didn't think it was the right decision," he said. “It was quite apparent from the footage that they weren’t aware of what was going on.

"[The filmed officer] was in full uniform and had his radio going, which indicated that he was on duty at the time."

Coling said he had been instructed to write to the officer at the time.

However, when the officer failed to respond, the matter was not advanced any further.

Coling said: "No one spoke to him to say: ‘We know you were at the scene where vulnerable children were being raped.'

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"No questions were ever asked. That just seems very, very wrong."

A Met Police spokesperson said: "We are not aware of any evidence being provided to the Met that substantiates this allegation.

"Should we receive any evidence of wrongdoing by an officer, or member of police staff, this will be assessed."

The spokesperson added: "If you have information about a police officer or member of staff who works for the Met and is corrupt, abusing their position and power, please call the hotline on 0800 085 0000 so we can act."

The Casey Review, published in March, found the force to be institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic in the wake of a series of scandals, including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer and PC David Carrick being unmasked as a serial rapist.

When asked last month how many officers are currently being investigated over sexual and domestic abuse claims, Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told The News Agents podcast: “I don’t have the number at the top of my head – but it’s many hundreds.”

On how many Met officers have been suspended as a result of these investigations, he added: “We have well over 500 who are restricted and several hundred who are suspended.

“So, I’ve said we need to get rid of hundreds of people."

Rowley was appointed last year, promising "urgent reforms" to the force.