Kristina O’Connor, the daughter of entertainer Des O’Connor, has made a splash in the news recently for her legal battle against the Metropolitan Police. She faced sexual harassment at the hands of a police officer while he was investigating her mugging.
Detective Sergeant Mason made multiple sexual comments towards her in person, and harassed her over email. O’Connor claims she felt she could not outright reject the advances given Mason had the power to ignore her case.
The Met were made aware of Mason’s actions in October 2020. The panel which was formed to investigate acknowledged Mason had abused his position for a sexual purpose, but decided not to fire him due to his “otherwise blameless career”.
Angered by this weak response, O’Connor launched an appeal against the Police Misconduct Panel, aiming to expose the “culture of misogyny” within the Met.
This isn’t a case of one bad apple. Sexual misconduct is endemic to the entire police force.
Mason himself said in an email to O’Connor: “Coming onto victims is positively encouraged. It’s all part of the friendly and accessible face of the Met Police.”
The Met will continue their battle to brand themselves as community agents, here to ‘protect and serve’ – all whilst dismissing and covering-up reports of sexual harassment.
These power hungry officers are given a blank cheque to act however they wish, all for the price of defending the interests of the ruling class.
This rot cannot be cleansed one slap on the wrist at a time, it must be uprooted and destroyed.
Met Police let off the hook
Reema Malhotra, NHS doctor
Good news if you’re a senior figure within the Met Police: the force is no longer under enhanced monitoring, which had been triggered by a string of scandals including the murder of Sarah Everard.
Apparently, they’ve made ‘improvements’, and are now off the naughty step. They’re straight back to their usual business, starting with the mass arrest of pro-Palestine protesters.
Meanwhile, two officers have been acquitted of gross misconduct in the death of Kevin Clarke: a black man with paranoid schizophrenia, who died in 2018 while under restraint during a mental health episode.
It could not be proven that the officers had heard Mr Clarke saying “I can’t breathe” – the same harrowing last words of George Floyd, who was killed by police officers in the USA. Even worse, the Met had initially carried out its inquest without inviting the family.
I am an NHS doctor, and it’s a common occurrence at work to hear from patients – especially young black men – that their arrests by police have been traumatic and disproportionately violent. Often, restraints are used unnecessarily and dangerously.
No ‘enhanced monitoring’ or police reform will protect vulnerable people. As long as this rotten, oppressive system remains, there will be more injuries and deaths at the hands of the police.
