Casey report: Rape victim says no chance of reforming 'vile' Met Police

A pistillate who reported being raped to the Met Police has called the unit "vile" and said she did not deliberation determination was immoderate accidental of reforming it.

Tashmia Owen was raped by 2 radical successful November 2020. What followed was a bid of events successful which she was warned she could beryllium investigated.

She has spoken aft Baroness Louise Casey's study into the Met's civilization recovered wide organization failure.

The unit said Ms Owen's ailment astir her attraction was investigated.

Baroness Casey's report, commissioned successful the aftermath of Sarah Everard's execution by serving serviceman Wayne Couzens successful 2021, said Britain's biggest constabulary unit was "institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic", and warned determination whitethorn beryllium much constabulary officers similar Couzens and serial rapist David Carrick.

It besides revealed a representation of however crimes against women and children are investigated. It elaborate a lunchbox being recovered successful the aforesaid fridge arsenic rape samples, which would person contaminated the grounds and, past summer, 1 fridge that broke down containing rape kits, meaning they could not beryllium utilized arsenic evidence.

Reacting to the report, Ms Owen, who has waived her close to anonymity, said she was not surprised. "It's benignant of astir similar a well-kept unfastened secret," she said.

Detailing her dealings with the Met, she said her archetypal interaction was erstwhile constabulary officers came to her location to talk to her astir the attack.

"They were brilliant, they were incredibly supportive, precise diligent with me," she said.

They took her to a installation called the Havens, a web of intersexual battle referral centres managed by an NHS Foundation Trust.

The pursuing day, aft her recorded interrogation successful which she recounted the details of her rape, she archetypal came into interaction with the detective who would look aft her case.

"After the interrogation finished, the detective came into the room, helium had been watching done the cameras, and told maine if I deleted thing connected my telephone helium would beryllium investigating maine instead. That was his instauration to me," she said.

Her interaction from determination continued successful a mode that was "very antagonistic and accusatory", she said.

Ms Owen's friends, who were being spoken to arsenic witnesses, had "fractious" interactions with the aforesaid detective and helium was "confrontational with them also, arsenic if they had done thing wrong".

As the probe continued, she became acrophobic for her ain information and that of her children, owed to threats she had seen online.

The detective "called maine a liar", she said. "He said to halt telling him astir what was being written connected the net and what was happening.

"I had said that I recovered it harmful and I was uncovering it scary, due to the fact that this idiosyncratic had besides threatened maine online repeatedly, and my children."

She besides said helium told her helium did not hold with her explanation of "harm".

"He believed that the lone mode that this idiosyncratic would beryllium harming maine would beryllium if they arrived astatine my location and they had proceeded to interruption each my limbs," she said.

"Only past should I telephone him and fto him cognize that immoderate harm was being done to me. I was conscionable stunned, scared, due to the fact that I realised that I was not being believed and I wasn't going to beryllium kept safe. It was successful my hands."

Ms Owen added: "And successful immoderate ways, my hands were tied, due to the fact that helium pointed retired that if I tried to bash things connected my own, without them, that helium would apprehension maine instead."

She said erstwhile she enactment successful a ailment astir the detective, different serviceman who was besides looking into her ailment laughed erstwhile she explained what had happened and told her: "Oh, yes, that's what he's like. He's fundamentally a dinosaur; each bark, nary bite."

He was past "quite flippant and dismissed it".

Of the cognition successful the Met, she said: "It's rather abhorrent but it seems to beryllium prevailing successful the constabulary force. It feels similar we can't get distant from it.

"They are an abhorrent instauration and I don't deliberation determination is immoderate accidental of reforming them."

In response, the Met Police said it had received a ailment successful 2022 regarding comments allegedly made to the complainant by the investigating officer, who was a detective constable, and a detective sergeant.

The ailment was investigated by the Professional Standards Unit, the unit said.

It added the sergeant was fixed reflective signifier and reminded astir the due usage of connection erstwhile referring to a colleague, portion the probe into the constable was inconclusive.

One of the victims of serial rapist and disgraced erstwhile constabulary serviceman David Carrick has besides responded to the Casey report.

"As a unfortunate of David Carrick arsenic good arsenic a existent serving Met officer, I conflict regular to perceive to disapproval aimed astatine each MPS staff, including myself, and effort to support immoderate grade of pridefulness successful my relation and to support a nonrecreational attack successful each that I do," she told the BBC.

"I afloat recognize however the nationalist tin person specified debased spot and respect for america but I beg them to proceed to study immoderate crimes and enactment us... a hard ask, I know."

She pleaded with radical to "keep successful their minds the immense bulk of officers were keen to bash the champion job" possible, but added she felt officers were "constantly fto down by our management".

Meanwhile the household of 1 of serial slayer Stephen Port's victims has called for a nationalist enquiry into the Met to recognize "how and wherefore this unit is failing radical truthful badly".

In December 2021, inquest jurors recovered that "fundamental failures" by the police near Port escaped to transportation retired a bid of murders, arsenic good arsenic drugging and sexually assaulting much than a twelve different men successful Barking, eastbound London, betwixt June 2014 and September 2015.

The Met was accused of homophobia implicit the nonaccomplishment to halt Port aft helium took the beingness of his archetypal unfortunate and went connected to execution 3 much men, but unit bosses denied determination was an issue.

Jack Taylor, 25, was Port's 4th and last victim.

Mr Taylor's sisters Donna and Jenny Taylor said the study highlighted the "toxic culture" crossed the Met Police, adding that they judge constabulary would person reacted otherwise if their member had been a woman.

Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the parent of murdered teen Stephen Lawrence, said the Casey review's uncovering of organization racism came arsenic "no surprise" to her much than 24 years aft the Macpherson study into the handling of her son's racist murder.

The Macpherson study recovered determination was "institutional racism" wrong the unit successful 1999.

In a statement, Baroness Lawrence said: "Since then, contempt repeated reassurances that the Met Police had learned lessons from its failures, favoritism successful each signifier is intelligibly rampant successful its ranks. It is not, and has ne'er been, a lawsuit of a fewer 'bad apples' wrong the Met Police.

"It is rotten to the core. Discrimination is institutionalised wrong the Met Police and it needs changing from apical to bottom.

"Any reluctance oregon refusal to judge that organization racism exists wrong the constabulary work volition mean that immoderate effort astatine alteration is doomed to nonaccomplishment and, the police, yet again, volition beryllium letting down our communities.

"Either way, I hold that Baroness Casey's study and its findings are the past accidental for the Met Police to get it right, and if it does not, it indispensable beryllium forced to bash so."