Met Police officer sacked for accessing Sarah Everard files

A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been dismissed for gross misconduct after accessing files relating to Sarah Everard’s murder without reason.

PC Myles McHugh committed gross misconduct by viewing the confidential files, a tribunal has found.

Former Det Con Hannah Rebbeck and Sgt Mark Harper were also found by the tribunal to have committed gross misconduct. Ms Rebbeck has since left the force but would have been dismissed had she still been serving, while Sgt Harper was issued with a final written warning.

The offences took place between 5 and 15 March 2021 – soon after the 33-year-old marketing executive was kidnapped and killed by serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens.

PC McHugh repeatedly accessed the police system to search for details including Ms Everard’s medical history, employment, character and lifestyle, the panel heard.

Ms Rebbeck also looked for information about the 33-year-old that was not connected with the her duties multiple times, which the panel heard had “centred on her own morbid curiosity”.

Another serving officer and two other former officers faced the same misconduct charge, but the panel found they had had a legitimate reason for accessing the information and were not in breach of the standards of police professional behaviour.

Another serving officer will face a separate gross misconduct hearing on a date to be set.

Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said the force’s thoughts were with Ms Everard’s family and friends.

“We have apologised to them for the added distress this case has caused and I recognise the wider questions and concerns this raises,” he said.

None of the officers was directly involved in the criminal investigation into Ms Everard’s murder and no evidence was found that any of them inappropriately shared the information with anyone else, the Met said.