A disgraced police officer sacked over a joke about Sarah Everard’s murder was a veteran of the Met who continued his career despite telling lies in the High Court, it has been revealed.
Giles Kitchener was dismissed for gross misconduct by City of London police last month, after a series of incidents in 2021 including homophobic and misogynistic comments to colleagues. Just days after Ms Everard was kidnapped, raped and murdered by Met Pc Wayne Couzens, Kitchener circulated on WhatsApp an image depicting a police officer killing a woman.
City of London police published just a 181-word statement about Kitchener’s dismissal in January, omitting details of the former detective sergeant’s behaviour — including that he had taken charge of a domestic violence case after drinking alcohol while on duty.
The disciplinary panel rejected arguments put forward by Kitchener in attempts to minimise or explain his behaviour. In 2015, Kitchener — then a Met officer — was called to give evidence in the High Court in a case about racist assaults by police from the territorial support group. Kitchener was acquitted at a criminal trial over the incident, but a High Court judge concluded he told a “deliberate lie” in the civil trial to “conceal the wrongdoing” of colleagues. Scotland Yard declined to comment on Kitchener’s disciplinary record.
The full City of London police misconduct report, which runs to 33 pages and was published yesterday after requests from the Standard, outlines how run-ins with colleagues ended Kitchener’s career.
He sent the offensive image to colleagues on March 12, 2021, just after news had broken that Couzens was suspected of murdering Ms Everard. Kitchener later deleted the WhatsApp message, leaving the comment “Too soon…..” and the panel concluded he had falsely claimed to have apologised to two fellow officers about the incident.
When officers were discussing Couzens and reports he had an interest in extreme pornography, Kitchener “shrugged” when it was suggested images of rape would fall into that category, the hearing was told.
The panel found he made comments about a female colleague’s breasts and suggested an officer’s skirt was not short enough. Kitchener was also found to have lied about his actions on a shift, when he was seen drinking beer at Bishopsgate police station before heading off to handle a domestic violence case. Kitchener is now barred from holding policing roles in the future.
City of London Police said Kitchener was vetted when he joined from the Met in 2020. He did not declare the details of the High Court case beforehand, but the force said: “Kitchener let the City of London Police know after joining the force and this instigated a thorough analysis of the circumstances.”
