Black armed police woman who became a poster girl for Scotland Yard before losing 33 race claims is facing trial HERSELF for downloading crime victims’ details
- Carol Howard, 40, came to prominence as a firearms officer for the Met Police
- Met used image of the officer on security posters for London 2012 Olympics
- But she soon became a poster girl for litigation after suing the force for racism
- She now faces trial for unlawfully obtaining and disclosing personal data
A former poster girl for Scotland Yard who lost 33 race claims against the police watchdog is now facing trial for ‘recklessly’ disclosing information about victims.
Carol Howard, 40, came to prominence as a firearms officer for the Metropolitan Police, which used an image of the gun-toting officer on security posters at the 2012 London Olympics.
But she soon became a poster girl for litigation after suing the force for racism.
Then she launched 33 race and discrimination claims against her subsequent employer, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), all of which were rejected.
Carol Howard, 40, came to prominence as a firearms officer for the Metropolitan Police, which used an image of the gun-toting officer on security posters at the 2012 London Olympics
Now she faces a new court battle after being charged with unlawfully obtaining and disclosing personal data when she allegedly downloaded information from IPCC computers after she left the organisation.
It is said that she ‘knowingly or recklessly’ broke data protection rules by downloading sensitive files relating to victims and witnesses from the watchdog which is now known as The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
The case brought by the Information Commissioner is due to go to trial in February.
Miss Howard launched 33 race and discrimination claims against her subsequent employer, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), all of which were rejected
Separately, this week an employment judge ordered the former detective to pay £5,000 in costs for her ‘misguided’ claims against the IPCC, which wasted £50,000 of taxpayers’ money.
The lawyers who represented her have also agreed to pay £40,000 in costs and apologise for pursuing what was described as an ‘exceptional waste of time’. The mother of one accused the IPCC of discrimination and harassment after she got a temporary job there as an investigator in September 2016.
She sued for £144,000, saying: ‘In my view, the IPCC, now the IOPC, is an institutionally racist employer operating a hostile environment for its [black, Asian and minority ethnic] staff.
‘It is corrupt and not fit for purpose. It protects senior white police officers.’ But the Central London Employment Tribunal concluded that the serial litigant would complain of victimisation if she was unhappy at work.
Dismissing all 33 of Miss Howard’s allegations, Judge Joanna Wade said her claim of being the victim of a ‘witch hunt’ was unfounded, adding: ‘It is a matter of great sadness to us, first, that Miss Howard and her witnesses came to this tribunal with such a misguided view of her position.
‘We are left with the uncomfortable conclusion that the claimant has an unshakable but incorrect belief that if she does not like what is happening or is prevented from doing the work she chooses, this is discrimination, victimisation, harassment.’
The tribunal held in May last year heard the real reason she left the IPCC was that she was facing disciplinary action for falsifying timesheets and poor performance. In conclusion, Judge Wade suggested Miss Howard had only launched her IPCC claim because she had successfully sued the Metropolitan Police in July 2014 for £37,000.
Following a costs hearing earlier this month, Judge Wade told journalists: ‘I have to conclude this was an exceptional waste of time.’ In her judgment published this week, the judge noted that Miss Howard was broke and said she was suffering from ‘severe anxiety’.