The UK’s Metropolitan Police is facing fierce criticism after a damning review revealed it allowed highly problematic and serious dangerous criminals to enter its ranks due to a combination of extremely poor vetting and diversity goals.
More than 130 officers and staff within the London force, including two convicted serial rapists, were taken on when they should not have been.
The political targets were enacted under the then-Conservative Party government, led by Theresa May at the time.
The scandal was exposed in a comprehensive vetting review published yesterday, covering recruitment and vetting practices at the Met’s Scotland Yard HQ from 2013 to March 2023.
The report highlights systemic failures during a national recruitment drive that saw senior leaders prioritise speed and political targets over proper security checks to meet ambitious goals for expanding the workforce.
PC Cliff Mitchell, a former Metropolitan Police officer, applied to join the force in 2020. His initial application was rejected after the vetting process flagged a serious allegation from 2017 involving the rape of a child.
Despite that, a special vetting panel established partly to address so-called disproportionality and boost the recruitment of officers from ethnic minorities overturned the decision. Mitchell was subsequently accepted.
While serving as a police officer, Mitchell went on to commit a prolonged “campaign of rape” against two victims, including a child under the age of 13.
He kidnapped and raped one woman at knifepoint in 2023.
In 2024, he was convicted of multiple serious sexual offences, including more than 50 attacks.
Mitchell was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term reported as between 13 and 18 years.
He has been described in some media coverage as referring to himself as “the devil”.
The review found Mitchell was one of 114 applicants whose initial vetting refusals were overturned by the panel, with 25 of those individuals later accused of criminality or misconduct, including sexual offences, violence and drug-related matters.
This is pc cliff Mitchell.
Who tried to join the @metpoliceuk in 2020 but was refused because of allegations he raped a child in 2017.
Senior police officers overturned the decision to improve figures from ethics minorities.
He went on to carry out a "campaign of rape" against 2… pic.twitter.com/qZrEHfdQhY— mike erwydd. 🏴🇬🇧🇮🇱✝️ (@mikeerwydd1968) January 8, 2026
Overall, the report identified 131 officers and staff who were not properly vetted and went on to commit crimes or misconduct.
Thousands more joined without full checks, including failures to obtain references, Special Branch intelligence-gathering unit clearances, or Ministry of Defence verifications.
According to the Home Office, the Met believed more than 5,000 officers and employees were hired without the proper screening. It has not been able to verify if around 17,000 police officers and employees underwent pre-employment screenings.
Another notorious case referenced in the review is that of serial rapist David Carrick, one of the UK’s most prolific sex offenders. He received 37 life sentences for attacks on multiple women and girls, including a 12-year-old.
Carrick was not properly vetted in 2017, with checks missing prior allegations of domestic abuse.
The Met admitted these “deviations” from standard policies, driven by pressure to meet recruitment targets under the national Police Uplift Programme, increased risks to the public and eroded trust.
Under the uplift programme, the government made a manifesto commitment to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales over a three-year period by March 31, 2023
Senior police leaders faced political and funding pressures, with unachievable targets risking the loss of resources to other forces.
The Met’s Assistant Commissioner for Professionalism, Rachel Williams, described the findings as part of efforts to be “open and transparent” about past shortcomings. She noted that the force has since strengthened vetting procedures and, under Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Mark Rowley, who took over in September 2022, sacked around 1,500 officers as part of a clean-up.
The report concluded: “There were deviations from policy and practice, overconfidence in the ability to recruit at scale and lack of resources in vetting increased risk.
“It is extremely difficult to establish a causation chain between system changes and the potential harm caused to the public and other members of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).
“However, it is known that the scale and impact of these deviations ranged, with some tolerable and minor in nature, to those having a more substantive impact, including the recruitment and likely retention of individuals who have gone on to cause harm through criminality and misconduct – events that have undermined public confidence in the MPS.”
The scandal has drawn sharp condemnation across the board.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called the abandonment of proper checks a “dereliction of the Met’s duty to keep London safe” and a betrayal of public expectations, announcing an inspection by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke to restore confidence.
Paula Dodds, Chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation, described the situation as “farcical”, stating that “hitting a numerical target of recruits has taken precedence over normal checks and balances”.
Former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley, speaking on GB News, lambasted the “utterly appalling” lack of vetting, calling it “beyond comprehension” and saying the public had “paid the price” for allowing “monsters” into the force.
He highlighted the harm to both victims and good officers who must work alongside such individuals, warning of further damage to public trust.
The Met has stressed that the vast majority of its recruits are of exemplary character and dedicated to public service and the review underscores ongoing efforts to prevent any repeat of the failures.
