Scotland Yard says a former officer, who’d already resigned, would also have been dismissed “had she still been serving”.
A third officer’s been given a final written warning.
33-year-old Ms Everard was raped and murdered by former police officer Wayne Couzens, who staged a fake arrest in Clapham in March 2021.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said: “Today as always, our thoughts remain with Sarah Everard’s family and friends. We have apologised to them for the added distress this case has caused and I recognise the wider questions and concerns this raises.
“Our officers and staff are regularly reminded that police systems and specific files must only be accessed where there is a legitimate policing purpose to do so. This includes reminder screens and warning pages when logging on to our software systems, as well as mandatory training on information management which must be completed by everyone within the organisation.
“It is clear the panel has carefully considered the circumstances of each individual case before coming to their conclusion that three officers had no acceptable reason for looking at this information.”
Following the murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021, a dedicated taskforce of experienced investigators from the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards carried out an audit of those who had accessed files relating to her disappearance and the subsequent investigation. The audit looked at whether those who had accessed these files did so with a proper policing purpose.
Investigators scrutinised each case to determine what the officer or staff member had viewed, the reasons and motivation they gave for such viewings and whether it had been externally shared.
This resulted in the seven officers above being served with gross misconduct notices and appearing in front of the hearing.
In total, 104 officers and staff (68 officers and 36 staff members) were initially identified as potentially accessing files relating to the investigation without a legitimate policing purpose.
