22/02/2024
You’ve met the devil, Met officer told woman he r***d and kidnapped
Scotland Yard failed to sack an officer who breached a non-molestation order and then went on to r**e and kidnap a woman at knifepoint.
Cliff Mitchell, 24, of Putney, southwest London, r***d the victim at least four times and cable tied her wrists at a property in south London on September 5 last year.
He threatened to slit her throat before telling her, “You’ve met the devil.” He then forced her and another person into his white Audi and warned her he would “kill her in front of everyone” if she tried to run. He claimed he “knew how to dispose of bodies from his knowledge gained as a police officer”.
CCTV captured the moment the “distraught and scared” woman fled the car, begging motorists for help.
Catherine Farrelly, for the prosecution, said the incident was the “culmination of years of s*xual abuse”, telling a jury: “He [Mitchell] would use the fact that he was a police officer to intimidate her, saying that no one would believe her if she were to report what had been happening.”
Croydon crown court was told that the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, applied for a non-molestation order (NMO) against Mitchell on July 20, 2023. Once granted, courts will notify a local police force so they can take action if an order is breached.
The Metropolitan Police received the NMO but said it “made no mention of Mitchell being a police officer”. The force did not make any checks and Mitchell, who was attached to the unit covering the boroughs of Ealing, Hillingdon and Hounslow, was not sanctioned or removed from frontline duties.
Mitchell denied the woman’s claims but a jury found him guilty of seven r**es against the woman, one kidnap charge and breaching the NMO.
He was also convicted of six further r**es, including three of ra**ng a child under 13, between 2014 and 2017. The victim, who also cannot be named, described feeling “empty and numb” after the attacks, which Mitchell denied. He will be sentenced for all 15 offences on May 1.
The Met said it has since revised its policy and guidance, telling The Times: “Checks are now completed on every NMO at the point we receive it, meaning that any relevant matters — such as the individual being included on a previous police report — would be raised. Subject details are also checked to ascertain if they are a Met police officer or member of police staff.”
At present, three serving officers are subject to NMOs and all were already known to the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, responsible for investigating complaints about officers’ conduct. Mitchell was dismissed for breaching his NMO at an accelerated misconduct hearing on December 7.
Stuart Cundy, deputy assistant Commissioner at the Met, said: “This is a truly shocking case and I am sickened by Mitchell’s abhorrent behaviour and the pain he has caused the victims, who have shown enormous bravery by coming forward and giving evidence in court. It is down to their courage that he has been convicted and faces a significant custodial sentence.
“Mitchell not only carried out a sustained campaign of abuse against both of his victims, but he told one of them she would never be believed due to the fact he was a police officer. This brazen abuse of power makes Mitchell’s actions all the more deplorable.
“I know this is another case which will impact the confidence people have in us. We are doing more than we have done in decades to rid the Met of those who corrupt our integrity.”
Mitchell was located hours after the knifepoint abduction when officers flagged down his car in Putney. Days later officers searched the home of Mitchell’s uncle to find his bag and mobile phone. Mitchell’s father was also present.
Farrelly told the jury: “The defendant’s father went into one of the bedrooms and began tidying some items into a plastic bag. One of the officers asked if he could check the bag and found within it a plastic bag containing cable ties, similar to those used around [the victim’s] wrists.” Officers seized the bag. Mitchell’s phone has never been found.
During the trial it emerged that Mitchell was questioned by Met detectives in 2017 after a child reported a string of r**es. Mitchell was arrested and bailed pending further inquiries. It was suggested that detectives did not understand the medical evidence and initially “decided not to refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service” for a charging decision. In August 2019 Mitchell was told no further action would be taken. He joined the Met in August 2021, the court was told.
After Mitchell was charged in September last year, the 2017 case was re-investigated by the force’s domestic abuse and s*xual offences unit.
The Met said: “Due to the strength of the 2017 and 2023 cases being considered together, a file was passed to the CPS in December 2023, who agreed to charge Mitchell. Over recent years, we have transformed the way we investigate r**e and s*xual offences. A key part of this is putting victim-survivors at the heart of everything we do, and putting a greater focus on suspects and their behaviour.”