Dame Cressida Dick ‘felt intimidated’ by Sadiq Khan into stepping down as Met Police chief
Dame Cressida Dick ‘felt intimidated’ into stepping down as Met commissioner following an ultimatum from Sadiq Khan, a damning review found today.
In a 116-page report, the former chief inspector of constabulary Sir Thomas Winsor slammed the Mayor of London for failing to follow due process prior to Ms Dick’s resignation in February this year.
He said: ‘I am required to provide an assessment of what happened and to say whether due process was followed in this case. In my view, it was not.’
Sir Thomas found Dame Cressida ‘felt intimidated’ following an ultimatum from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Dame Cressida’s decision to resign came after criticism from the mayor following a series of scandals. She officially left in April.
Her five years in the job saw public confidence in the police drop. Scandals included the kidnap and murder of marketing executive Sarah Everard by London policeman Wayne Couzens and the photographing of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman by Met officers.
Sir Thomas found Dame Cressida ‘felt intimidated’ following an ultimatum from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan
In a 116-page report, the former chief inspector of constabulary Sir Thomas Winsor slammed the Mayor of London for failing to follow due process prior to Ms Dick’s resignation in February this year
Two months after Dame Cressida quit, the Met was placed in ‘special measures’ for the first time.
In his report, Sir Thomas said: ‘In this case, none of the statutory steps set out in section 48 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 and summarised above were followed.
‘The Mayor, through his Chief of Staff, gave the Commissioner an ultimatum on 10 February 2022: if the Commissioner did not attend a meeting and convince the Mayor that her plan of 4 February 2022 would be improved, he would make a statement to the media.
‘That statement would make clear that he no longer had trust and confidence in the Commissioner, and that he intended to start the statutory process for her removal.
‘When the Commissioner did not attend that meeting, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff reiterated the Mayor’s position and gave her less than one hour to decide what to do.
‘She felt intimidated by this process into stepping aside, and I can understand that reaction. The Commissioner felt that, in the interests of Londoners and the Metropolitan Police, she had to ‘step aside’, as a prelude to her eventual resignation.’
In response, Mr Khan said Sir Tom’s review was ‘clearly biased and ignores the facts’.
He said: ‘On the former Commissioner’s watch, trust in the police fell to record lows following a litany of terrible scandals.
‘What happened was simple – I lost confidence in the former Commissioner’s ability to make the changes needed and she then chose to stand aside.
‘Londoners elected me to hold the Met Commissioner to account and that’s exactly what I have done.
‘I make absolutely no apology for demanding better for London and for putting the interests of the city I love first. I will continue working with the new Commissioner to reduce crime and to rebuild trust and confidence in the police.’
Susan Hall, leader of the Conservatives at the London Assembly, called on Mr Khan to apologise.
‘This independent report raises serious concerns about how the mayor treats senior staff, his lack of respect for due process, and his mismanagement of the Met Police,’ she said.
‘For Sadiq Khan to respond to criticisms of his conduct by hurling baseless accusations of bias at the investigators proves their point entirely. He should take responsibility, reflect on his mistakes, and apologise.’
In response to Sir Thomas’s report, Home Secretary Priti Patel said: ‘In thanking Sir Tom for his report, I hope now that those responsible for delivering policing in London – as well as those responsible for holding the Met to account – will concentrate their efforts on delivering safer streets for the capital and restoring integrity in policing.
‘Public confidence in the Met has been dented by a series of appalling incidents and it is vital that failings are addressed and professional standards restored to the level that Londoners deserve.
‘The police need to ensure that they get the basics right, which should include a relentless focus on cutting neighbourhood crime and the serious violence that has blighted too many communities.’
Top cop dogged by controversy: String of disasters at the Met under Dame Cressida’s watch
Jean Charles De Menezes pictured in Paris three months before he was shot dead on a train at Stockwell station on July 22, 2005
July 22, 2005: Jean Charles de Menezes is shot dead on a train at Stockwell Underground station in South London.
The shooting happened when counter-terrorism officers mistook the innocent electrician for one of the terrorists behind an attack on the capital a day earlier.
Mr de Menezes, a Brazilian working in the capital, was blasted in the head seven times by police at Stockwell station after being followed by officers from his home nearby.
Mr de Menezes’s family led a long campaign calling for police officers to be prosecuted for the shooting and criticising Scotland Yard for its handling of the operation, which was led at the time by Dame Cressida.
Dame Cressida was cleared of all blame by later inquiries, but Mr de Menezes’ family expressed ‘serious concerns’ when she was appointed Met Commissioner in 2017.
The top policewoman told the Mail in 2018: ‘It was an appalling thing – an innocent man killed by police. Me in charge. Awful for the family and I was properly held to account. We learned every lesson that was to be learned’.
April 2017: Appointed as first female Metropolitan Police commissioner with a brief to modernise the force and keep it out of the headlines.
April 2019: Extinction Rebellion protesters bring London to a standstill over several days with the Met powerless to prevent the chaos. Dame Cressida says the numbers involved were far greater than expected and used new tactics but she admits police should have responded quicker.
September 2019: Her role in setting up of shambolic probe into alleged VIP child sex abuse and murder based on testimony from the fantasist Carl Beech (right) is revealed but she declines to answer questions.
2020: Official report into Operation Midland said Met was more interested in covering up mistakes than learning from them.
February 2021: Lady Brittan condemns the culture of ‘cover up and flick away’ in the Met and the lack of a moral compass among senior officers.
- The same month a freedom of information request reveals an extraordinary spin campaign to ensure Dame Cressida was not ‘pulled into’ the scandal over the Carl Beech debacle.
March: Criticised for Met handling of a vigil for Sarah Everard, where officers arrested four attendees. Details would later emerge about how her killer, Wayne Couzens (right), used his warrant card to trick her into getting into his car.
- In the first six months of the year, London was on course for its worst year for teenage deaths – 30 – with knives being responsible for 19 out of the 22 killed so far. The youngest was 14-year-old Fares Matou, cut down with a Samurai sword. Dame Cressida had told LBC radio in May her top priority was tackling violent crime.
June: A £20million report into the Daniel Morgan murder brands the Met ‘institutionally corrupt’ and accuses her of trying to block the inquiry. Dame Cressida rejects its findings. Mr Morgan is pictured below.
July: Police watchdog reveals three Met officers being probed over alleged racism and dishonesty.
- The same month the Yard boss is at the centre of another storm after it emerged she was secretly referred to the police watchdog over comments she made about the stop and search of Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams. Dame Cressida is accused of pre-empting the outcome of an independent investigation.
- Also in July she finds herself under fire over her woeful security operation at the Euro 2020 final at Wembley where fans without tickets stormed the stadium and others used stolen steward vests and ID lanyards to gain access.
August Dame Cressida facing a potential misconduct probe over her open support for Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Horne who could stand trial over alleged data breaches.
December: Two police officers who took pictures of the bodies of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman (right) were jailed for two years and nine months each.
Pc Deniz Jaffer and Pc Jamie Lewis were assigned to guard the scene overnight after Ms Henry, 46, and Ms Smallman, 27, were found dead in bushes in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, north-west London. Instead, they breached the cordon to take photographs of the bodies, which were then shared with colleagues and members of the public on WhatsApp.
December: Dame Cressida apologises to the family of a victim of serial killer Stephen Port (right). Officers missed several chances to catch him after he murdered Anthony Walgate in 2014.
Dame Cressida – who was not commissioner at the time of the murder – told Mr Walgate’s mother: ‘I am sorry, both personally and on behalf of The Met — had police listened to what you said, things would have turned out a lot differently’.’
January 2022: She faces a barrage of fresh criticism for seeking to ‘muzzle’ Sue Gray’s Partygate report by asking her to make only ‘minimal’ references to parties the Met were investigating.
February 2022: Details of messages exchanged by officers at Charing Cross Police Station, which included multiple references to rape, violence against women, racist and homophobic abuse, are unveiled in a watchdog report.
August 2022: IOPC report into the murder of Daniel Morgan found she ‘may have breached police standards’.