'No choice': The scandals which led to Cressida Dick's resignation

Watch: Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick says she had "no choice by the resign"

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has resigned from her role, following months of pressure amid multiple scandals within the force.

Last week, following the exposure of offensive messages shared by Met Police officers, London Mayor Sadiq Khan openly attacked the UK's most senior police officer, putting her "on notice".

But speaking on Thursday, Dick told the BBC she had "no intention of going", despite the pressure.

Just hours later, it was announced that she had quit the role after she lost the confidence of Khan.

In a statement she said: "It is quite clear that the mayor no longer has sufficient confidence in my leadership of the Metropolitan Police service... he has left me no choice but to step aside."

It was reported that had submitted her plan for reform of the Met but that Khan did not think it met what was required.

He called her in for a meeting at 4.30pm on Thursday which Ms Dick did not attend.

Instead, she submitted her resignation.

Dick oversaw series of failings and controversies in the last 12 months. Here, Yahoo News UK sets out some of the key scandals.

Wayne Couzens

On 3 March last year, serving police officer Couzens abducted 33-year-old Sarah Everard near Clapham Common in south London, before raping and murdering her.

Couzens used his police badge and credentials to falsely arrest Everard and deceive her into getting into the car he had hired to carry out the killing.

He was jailed for life in September.

It later emerged the 48-year-old was known as “the rapist” in his previous job at the Civil Nuclear Constabulary because he made female colleagues feel so uncomfortable.

He had also been accused of indecent exposure in Kent in 2015, and in London in the days before Ms Everard’s murder – but was allowed to continue working.

The case shone a spotlight on the culture within the force and the behaviour of some officers. A YouGov poll in November suggested nearly half of women trust the police less since the murder.

An inquiry investigating how Couzens was able to carry out Ms Everard's murder will look at whether any “red flags were missed” earlier in his career, the Home Office said last month.

Sarah Everard vigil

On 13 March, the day after Ms Everard's body was identified after being found in woodland, a vigil was held in her memory on Clapham Common.

Dick faced calls to resign after police clashed with the crowds, with women handcuffed on the ground and led away by officers.

Boris Johnson was among those who condemned the force, with the prime minister saying he was "deeply concerned" about its handling of the vigil.

While the Met was cleared by the police watchdog, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, a report acknowledged it was a "public relations disaster" for the force.

Daniel Morgan

Three months later, on 15 June, Dick had to apologise after an independent report found the Met was institutionally corrupt in the way it concealed or denied failings over Daniel Morgan’s unsolved murder.

Despite five police inquiries and an inquest, no one has been brought to justice over the father-of-two’s death in 1987, when he was attacked with an axe in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, south-east London.

The report said that within the Met “a culture still exists that inhibits both organisational and individual accountability”.

Dick herself – who denied institutional corruption – was criticised in the report for her refusal to allow the report panel team access to a police data system.

Mr Morgan's brother Alastair, who has been campaigning for decades for justice, was asked following the release of the report if she should consider resigning. “Absolutely she should,” he responded.

Wembley disorder

On 11 July, the England men's football team competed in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley. What should have been a day of celebration turned into shame amid chaotic and violent scenes outside and inside the stadium.

While an independent review of the disorder, published in December by Baroness Casey, did not apportion blame to any single agency, it did indicate inadequate planning from Met bosses.

England fans had arrived outside Wembley early in the morning, but the main deployment of officers was between 3pm and 3am (the match was an 8pm kick-off).

"By the time officers were on the ground, the area around Olympic Way was already effectively ‘lost’, with significant levels of anti-social behaviour occurring, fuelled by alcohol and drug consumption," the report found.

By the time game kicked off, about 2,000 ticketless people had breached the turnstiles.

However, the report made a point of praising officers on the ground who "took action around the stadium with considerable skill and courage, stabilising the situation shortly after kick-off".

Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman

In December, two police officers who took pictures of murdered sisters for a “cheap thrill” were jailed for two years and nine months.

Pc Deniz Jaffer and Pc Jamie Lewis were assigned to guard the scene after Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, were found dead in bushes in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, north-west London in June 2020.

Instead, the officers moved from their posts to take photographs of the bodies, which were then shared with colleagues and friends on WhatsApp. The victims were described as "dead birds".

Mina Smallman, mother of the two victims, said: "Most of our police force are amazing and do an amazing job, but there is an element that has taken over the culture of how they banter.”

The Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) regional director Graham Beesley, meanwhile, said a “shift in attitude” was needed in policing.

Racist and sexist messages exposed

This week, "shocking” racist, sexist and homophobic messages exchanged by police officers on WhatsApp and Facebook were published by the IOPC, which found the highly offensive language was dismissed as “banter”.

The watchdog took the unusual step of publishing the messages in full, despite their deeply offensive nature, because it said it was important for the public to know.

Fourteen officers from a now disbanded Westminster team were investigated, nine of whom remain serving officers.

IOPC regional director Sal Naseem said: "Our investigation showed the officers’ use of ‘banter’ became a cover for bullying and harassment." The Met's deputy assistant commissioner Bas Javid said: “It’s clear we have a lot of work to do to ensure bullying and discrimination does not exist in any part of the Met."

Watch: Home secretary Priti Patel discusses damning report into Met Police