Review into Met officer's sex assaults investigation
Scotland Yard is carrying out an internal misconduct review of its investigation into a detective who was jailed for sexually assaulting two women while on duty.
The way the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) dealt with the case against Det Con Clifford Earl will be scrutinised.
Earl, 57, was jailed at Southwark Crown Court for attacking two vulnerable women in their own homes in 2011.
The judge criticised the investigation.
Michael Gledhill QC heard there was an 11-month delay between the officer being interviewed by the DPS in February 2012 and him being charged in January this year.
The court was told the original lead detective was taken off the case and subsequently removed from the DPS before the charges were placed.
It has also emerged that while the case was mandatorily referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, this was not done until last October, a year after the first complaint was made about Earl's actions.
Earl, a married father-of-two, was jailed for 12 months on 5 July, having earlier admitted two charges of sexual assault.
He attacked one woman whose partner had just been arrested in a dawn raid, after staying behind alone with her to take a statement.
The other was targeted after reporting the theft of her son's bike and assaulted in her own kitchen.
He was sacked by the Met after a career of 33 years.
A Met Police spokesman said: "As a consequence of His Honour Judge Gledhill's comments, a review is being conducted.
"This will seek to identify whether any person involved in that investigation has committed any misconduct.
"Having recognised the initial delay internally, the Metropolitan Police Service had taken action to ensure that the case was progressed and that all available evidence was put before the court in a timely manner.
"No person involved in the initial investigation knew or worked with Det Con Earl before the investigation."