A Metropolitan Police officer has been sacked after a misconduct panel found she searched the records of the Sarah Everard case out of “pure curiosity”.
PC Clare Tett searched police systems on 10 March 2021, a day after Wayne Couzens was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping Ms Everard. The panel found she accessed seven records protected by data protection law without a proper policing purpose, including records relating to Couzens and his wife, as well as a crime report concerning Ms Everard’s disappearance.
The panel concluded Tett was trying to discover the identity of the Metropolitan Police officer who had been arrested in connection with the high-profile case.
At the time, Tett worked in the Met’s South West Basic Command Unit Criminal Justice Team, which polices Kingston, Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth. She was not involved in the investigation into Ms Everard’s disappearance or Couzens’ detention.
What Tett told the panel
Tett maintained she had a legitimate policing purpose for accessing the information, saying she was checking the accuracy of police systems using a live case. Her defence argued that her role required her to carry out searches on a range of police databases and that, with hindsight, choosing such a high-profile case was an error of judgement.
Tett had also previously explained that she used the case to “refresh” her licence to use the police system because it had been dormant.
However, the panel rejected her explanation, finding the “most likely explanation” was that she was “motivated by curiosity to find the identity of the officer”. It found her actions were “deliberate and intentional” and that the records had been accessed out of “pure curiosity”.
Gross misconduct
The panel found Tett breached professional standards relating to confidentiality, orders and instructions, and discreditable conduct, concluding her actions amounted to gross misconduct.
However, allegations that she breached the standard of honesty and integrity were not proven.
The panel said a final written warning would not adequately reflect the seriousness of her misconduct and dismissed Tett without notice.
Dismissal without notice is the most serious outcome a misconduct panel can impose. It follows a finding of gross misconduct, where the panel decides the officer’s behaviour is so serious that they can no longer remain in the force. A final written warning, which the panel considered and rejected here, would have allowed Tett to stay in her job.
Police databases hold highly sensitive personal information about victims, witnesses and suspects. Officers are only allowed to look at records when they have a genuine policing reason to do so, and the panel found Tett had none. The seven records she opened included material about Couzens and his wife, and a crime report about Ms Everard’s disappearance — information she had no part in investigating.
The Everard case
Ms Everard, 33, disappeared in Clapham in March 2021. Couzens, then a serving Metropolitan Police officer, was arrested the following day and later pleaded guilty to her kidnap, rape and murder. He is serving a whole-life sentence.
The case led to a series of reviews of the Metropolitan Police, including the Casey review, which found the force was institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic. The Met has since said it is working to rebuild public trust and to root out officers who should not be in the job.
Tett’s case is one of a series of misconduct hearings involving officers who accessed police systems without a proper reason. Officers are only permitted to search police databases when they have a genuine policing purpose, and unauthorised access to records — particularly those relating to victims and their families — is treated as a serious breach of the standards expected of the police.
