Kristina O’Connor is appealing a High Court decision to throw out her judicial review claim against a misconduct panel hearing. The panel had allowed a former Detective Sergeant to stay in his job despite having harassed her, reports Marco Marcelline

Kristina O’ Connor, Credit: Hodge Jones & Allen

A Walthamstow woman who was sexually harassed by a cop who kept his job has said she has “lost all faith” in the police.

Kristina O’Connor is appealing a High Court move to throw out her judicial review claim against a 2021 police misconduct hearing into former detective chief inspector James Mason. The panel decided Mason could keep his job despite being found guilty of gross misconduct.

Speaking to the Echo after the Court of Appeal heard her case this week (4th December), Kristina said: “The reason I’m appealing is because an officer found guilty of misconduct should not be able to keep his job.”

Adding that the saga had extinguished her faith in the police, she said: “I don’t think the [Metropolitan Police] can be trusted with women’s safety; they’re drunk on power and do what they want.”

In 2011, Kristina reported an assault by a group of young men at Kentish Town Police Station. As she tried to provide details of the incident, Mason, then a Detective Chief Inspector, asked her “deeply personal questions with a heavy sexual overtone” and later sent her multiple emails asking her out, calling Kristina “amazingly hot”. At one point he said that rejecting him would be “frowned upon”.

Bindmans LLP, who are representing Kristina, have said the advances caused O’Connor “extreme discomfort and distress” during a time that she was attempting to report a crime.

O’Connor complained about Mason’s conduct in October 2020, and one year later a police misconduct panel found him guilty of gross misconduct. He was however served with a final written warning and allowed to keep his job. He later resigned in October 2022.

A claim for judicial review was heard over two days at the High Court in May 2023, where O’Connor argued that the police investigation into his conduct was unlawful.

A further hearing on 20th October was triggered after a complaint by a colleague of Mason about his behaviour was brought to Kristina’s attention. It emerged during the hearing that this complaint, and a further allegation about his conduct was already known to the Metropolitan Police but was not disclosed previously.

High Court judge Mr Justice Swift however dismissed the application for judicial review, stating that he found the police had taken “reasonable” steps in their investigation into Mason, while a final written warning constituted an “appropriate” penalty.

A spokesperson for Bindmans said: “This appeal raises an important issue of principle as to how police misconduct panels select an appropriate penalty and whether an officer using his position of authority to sexually harass a victim of crime can properly be sanctioned through the lowest available type of penalty.”

A Met spokesperson said: “We are aware of the appeal hearing. The Met took the allegations against DCI James Mason very seriously. A misconduct hearing panel, led by an independent legally qualified chair, found his conduct amounted to gross misconduct and issued him a final written warning. His behaviour was wholly unacceptable and the Met Police has not sought to justify the panel’s decision. The Commissioner has made it clear that officers who behave in this way have no place in the Met.”

The Court of Appeal is expected to reveal its decision in January.

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