LONDON’S METROPOLITAN POLICE have come under fire for protecting “one of their own”, as a former officer was jailed for 16 years for a series of rapes.
Ex-Pc Adam Provan’s predatory behaviour dated back to the 1990s, and went unchecked until Lauren Taylor came forward in 2016 to report she had been twice raped by him when she was 16.
Taylor’s report came 11 years after a female police officer had complained she was stalked and harassed by Provan, which resulted in words of warning.
In 2019 the officer reported to the police that he had also raped her six times between 2003 to 2005.
Following a trial at Wood Green Crown Court, Provan, 44, from Suffolk, was found guilty of a total of eight rapes against the two women and jailed for 16 years with a further eight years on extended licence.
Sentencing today, Judge Noel Lucas told Provan:
“I find it highly troubling that (the female officer’s) colleagues in the Metropolitan Police in 2004/05 were more concerned about looking out for ‘one of their own’ than in taking her seriously and investigating her complaints about you.
“Had they done so, it may be that Ms Taylor would have been spared the ordeal she has had to go through.”
Speaking outside Scotland Yard, Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe said: “We heard in evidence that when one victim, a serving Met officer, reported allegations against Provan in 2005 these were not taken seriously.
“She therefore did not have the confidence to report she had been raped by him.
“We are sincerely sorry this was her experience and that she was let down by a system she trusted and was serving.”
Scotland Yard announced a review of Provan’s full history while at the force and before he joined, to see whether action could have been taken sooner.
The force also said it was working to identify any more potential victims and encouraged anyone with information to come forward.
Prosecutors had described Provan as a “Jekyll and Hyde” character who was obsessed with young women, viewed teenage pornography and had the details of 751 women on his phone.
Another female officer complained in 2005 that Provan sent her “nuisance” messages, but nothing was done and the issue was dealt with “informally”, the court was told.
He also allegedly contacted a 16-year-old girl after she gave her details as a witness in 2003.
Two other women made allegations, but a rape case was not proceeded with and a sexual assault case ended in acquittal.
In 2016 Taylor came forward to say Provan raped her on a blind date when she was teenager in 2010.
Instead, Provan, then 31, took her to woods, where he had sex with her even though she repeatedly told him no.
Afterwards he acted as if nothing had happened and took Taylor to a McDonald’s for a milkshake before forcing her to engage in a sex act in a children’s playground.
All the offences were committed while Provan was a serving officer in the Met’s East Area Command Unit.
His first trial for the double rape of Taylor ended in a hung jury but he was convicted in 2018 and jailed for nine years.
The next year, he was dismissed from the Metropolitan Police.
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