Met Police begins new bid to sack leading black female officer over child abuse video

Scotland Yard is trying to sack the Metropolitan Police’s most high-profile female black officer for a second time over a WhatsApp message from her sister.

The Met has started legal proceedings to dismiss Supt Robyn Williams after she successfully appealed against her sacking for “discreditable conduct”.

Ms Williams was sentenced to community service for having a clip from a child abuse video on her phone that had been sent to her by her sister. She was dismissed by the Met four months later, but successfully appealed against the decision.

Scotland Yard’s latest move raises the prospect of a further lengthy and bitter courtroom battle between one of Britain’s most senior black policewomen and a force striving to bolster confidence in policing among ethnic minority communities.

Timeline of events

Ms Williams was convicted in November 2019 at the Old Bailey of possession of an indecent image, a 54-second child abuse video sent via WhatsApp to her smartphone, unsolicited, by her sister.

She was ordered to complete 200 hours’ unpaid work and register for five years as a sex offender, even though the judge accepted there had been no sexual motive. Her conviction was later upheld by the Court of Appeal.

In March 2020, Ms Williams’s 36-year police career appeared to be over when she was sacked following an internal disciplinary hearing. It found that her actions had amounted to “gross misconduct” which “threatened” public confidence and the reputation of the police service.

But she took her case to the Police Appeals Tribunal (PAT) and won. She said at the time: “I am therefore delighted to be able to return to the work I love, serving our communities within London.”

‘Consistent’ approach to hearings

However, the Met confirmed on Tuesday that it was seeking a judicial review because of the “failure by the PAT to make a proper assessment of the seriousness” of her conviction.

It said it was seeking to ensure a “lawful and consistent approach” to misconduct hearings in the future.

“These PAT rulings currently leave a lack of clarity for disciplinary panels in determining the outcome of such conduct cases and this has an associated impact on public confidence,” it added.

The full verdict by the PAT, now published in full and first revealed by policing commentator Danny Shaw, said the Met had had given “too much weight” to a comment by the trial judge about Ms Williams’s dishonesty and “inadequate notice” to the many character testimonials that her dismissal could damage the force’s reputation.