Three Metropolitan Police officers have been found guilty of gross misconduct after they accessed files relating to the Sarah Everard case with “no proper policing purpose”, a tribunal has found.
Ms Everard was killed by a serving Met officer, Wayne Couzens, in Clapham, south London, on 3 March 2021.
Metropolitan Police constable Myles McHugh has been sacked over the misconduct.
The tribunal also said former Met detective constable Hannah Rebbeck would have been sacked had she not previously resigned.
Sergeant Mark Harper was given a final written warning, which will last for three years.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
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.”
Read more:
Starmer demands ‘urgency’ over police vetting after Everard report
Campaigner calls for Met to be abolished
Detective Constable Tyrone Ward, former Inspector Akinwale Ajose-Adeogun and former Detective Sergeant Robert Butters also faced the same misconduct hearing but the tribunal ruled they “did have a legitimate reason” for accessing the information and therefore did not breach any policing standards.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life order after pleading guilty to abducting, raping and murdering Ms Everard.
He strangled the marketing executive with his police belt after kidnapping her under the guise of a fake arrest as she walked home.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Her death brought into sharp focus the everyday violence against hundreds of thousands of women and girls across the country.
Women marched on Clapham Common and protested across the country from Parliament Square to Edinburgh amid an outpour of grief and rage.
