Officer accused of misconduct over failure to circulate CCTV images

A METROPOLITAN Police officer faces misconduct proceedings after failing to circulate CCTV images of a suspect who went on to kill a woman in an acid attack.

Xeneral Webster, 20, was identified the day after the Detective Constable, who has not been named, finally passed on the evidence 20 months after a woman was caught in the midst of an acid attack at a cinema in Ealing, west London.

By then he was starting a 17year jail sentence for the manslaughter of carer Joanne Rand, 47, after admitting the first acid killing in the UK in 2018.

The innocent bystander was fatally wounded when she was hit with sulphuric acid in High Wycombe in June 2017 during a fight between Webster and another man. When it emerged Webster was the prime suspect in an attack three months earlier in March 2017, Ms Rand’s family said she might still be alive had the Met not allegedly let her attacker slip through the net.

“Had this acid attack in March 2017 been investigated properly at the time, Webster, the alleged perpetrator, would have been dealt with and may not have been free to carry out the horrific attack in June 2017 on Jo and she may still be with us,” they said.

“We feel let down by the Metropolitan Police.”

A probe by the police watchdog found the Detective Constable obtained CCTV images a day after the Ealing attack, in which the woman suffered significant leg injuries.

He said the images would be circulated via an internal database when he was next on duty on the crime report.

But they were not circulated until November 8, 2018 and Webster was identified the next day.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the officer has a case to answer for misconduct and the Met will arrange disciplinary proceedings.

IOPC regional director Sal Naseem

said: “The consequences of such attacks are devastating, and my sympathies are with the family and friends of Joanne Rand because the circumstances surrounding her death are truly tragic.”

The IOPC said it only names officers facing gross misconduct proceedings.