Met investigates whether cop, a serial rapist, attacked more women while being sentenced to 16 years in prison

The Metropolitan Police is facing a new disgrace: a police officer exposed as a serial rapist could have been stopped if the police had acted sooner.

Scotland Yard announced a review of former police officer Adam Provan’s entire career and his time before joining the Met to identify possible victims and encourage them to come forward.

Judge Noel Lucas KC sharply criticised the Met as he sentenced 44-year-old Provan to 16 years in prison for a series of rapes spanning eight years.

Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe said she was “ashamed and saddened” after the judge said the police were “more concerned with looking after one of their own” than dealing with the complaints.

Judge Lucas told Provan he had demonstrated a “cold-blooded entitlement to sex” by abusing his position to abuse women and girls.

At Wood Green Crown Court, the judge also said that 16-year-old victim Lauren Taylor’s life might have been saved if a police officer’s initial complaints about Provan’s behaviour in 2005 had been taken seriously.

Ms Rolfe said: “I am very sad and very sorry if that is the case.

“We need to understand whether we have missed opportunities. And what we have already seen clearly shows that we have failed the victims. This must never happen again.”

“There is an opportunity, and that really makes me sad. We need to know the details. We need to know what the missed opportunities might have meant for this case.”

Following recent scandals, the Met is trying to root out sex offenders within its own ranks. These scandals include Sarah Everard’s killer, Wayne Couzens, who worked in the same armed unit as another serial rapist, PC David Carrick.

An inquiry by Baroness Louise Casey published in March concluded that the police were institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic.

Police are currently trying to determine if there are any other victims of Provan and are urging anyone with information to come forward.

Prosecutors said Provan was obsessed with young women, viewed teen pornography and collected over 700 female contacts on his mobile phone.

The Met is “looking into” whether it can contact them, Ms Rolfe said.

Ms Rolfe said: “From what I understand, some of them had contact details, some were just names, some contained derogatory information about women.”

“I think the judge concluded that this indicated an obsession with young women and that is, of course, incredibly worrying.”

When asked if police would contact any of the women, she replied: “If we have information that leads us to do so, but also if anyone is concerned, we will of course look into what that means.”

“We will look at these details and see what we can do.”

Judge Lucas told the court he could think of no other reason why Provan had 751 women’s names and telephone numbers stored on his phone than his “fascination with young women, bordering on obsession”. He concluded that the defendant met the criteria to be classified as a “dangerous” offender.

Provan’s predatory behaviour dated back to the 1990s and went unpunished until Ms Taylor came forward in 2016 to report that he had raped her twice when she was 16 years old.

Her complaint came eleven years after a policewoman complained about being followed and harassed by Provan, which earned her warnings.

In 2019, the officer told police that he also raped her six times between 2003 and 2005.

Following a trial, Provan, from Newmarket in Suffolk, was found guilty of eight counts of rape of the two women and sentenced to 16 years in prison, suspended for a further eight years.

Another police officer complained in 2005 that Provan had sent her “annoying” messages, but nothing was done and the matter was handled “informally”, the court was told.

He is also said to have contacted a 16-year-old girl in 2003 after she provided her details as a witness.

Two other women filed charges, but one case of rape was not pursued and one case of sexual assault ended in an acquittal.

In 2016, Ms Taylor revealed that Provan raped her on a blind date in 2010, when she was a teenager.

Provan, then 31 years old, took her into the forest where he repeatedly raped her.

He then acted as if nothing had happened, took Ms Taylor to McDonald’s for a milkshake and then forced her to perform a sexual act in a children’s playground.

All offences were committed while Provan was serving as an officer in the Metropolitan Police’s East Area Command Unit.

His first trial for the double rape of Ms Taylor ended in a hung jury, but he was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison in 2018. He was dismissed from the Metropolitan Police the following year.

He served three years and three months in prison and was only released on bail after the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial.

At the retrial, Ms Taylor testified for a third time and six additional rape charges were brought in connection with Provan’s earlier attacks on the police officer.

After his sentencing in June, Ms Taylor said: “No amount of justice will make me forget this date from hell.

“Even though I tried my best to suppress it, I will never forget how scared I was when the attack happened and reliving my worst nightmare 13 years later.”

The second victim, who has not waived his lifelong right to anonymity, told the court that Provan considered himself “untouchable” and boasted of being a “trained killer.”

She told the court that she feared he would kill her and accused the police of not protecting her sufficiently and not taking care of him sooner.

Judge Lucas paid tribute to the woman’s bravery, telling the officer that the treatment she received from police was “abysmal”. He added: “I hope nothing like this ever happens again. It is more than abysmal, it is shocking.”

In his verdict, Judge Lucas Provan said: “The persistence and gravity of your offence become clear when set out in these drastic terms.”

“What is particularly troubling about this case is that at the time of each of these offences, you were a serving police officer – someone the public had a right to regard as a person of the highest trustworthiness.

“By your actions you have brought shame on the police.

“What struck me about Ms. Taylor’s description of your behavior toward her was the same cold-blooded and ghastly entitlement to sex and sex in the manner you preferred, immediately followed by acting as if everything was perfectly normal. You displayed the same behavior toward (the police officer).”

Ms Rolfe said: “Both women were enormously strong and brave in giving evidence in court – an incredible three times for one of the women – and ensuring that Provan is now behind bars. I am so sorry for the pain and suffering he has caused them.

“We are examining Provan’s criminal and police conduct history to fully understand whether we could have acted sooner to bring him to justice or whether we could have prevented him from joining the police force.

“This work is not yet complete but we can already see that there were key moments when we failed women and did not do all we could to support them. We have informed the Independent Office for Police Conduct that we are conducting a review and have told them we will take appropriate action.”

In an interview with the PA news agency, Ms Taylor said: “I don’t feel like I’ve done anything great. I just feel like I’ve done what I needed to do for myself.”

She said of Provan: “I’m angry about what he did to me. I’m angry about who he was. He was a police officer and we go to them for protection and I was not protected.”

“And I am angry at the lack of remorse he has shown throughout the process.

“The reason I requested the final retrial was to make sure he didn’t harm anyone else.”