Former Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House will not face disciplinary proceedings following allegations that he had described the bulk of rape complaints as “regretful sex”.
Academic Professor Betsy Stanko had accused the senior officer of making the comments during a meeting in January 2022, which he denied and suggested that he had been misheard or there was a misunderstanding.
Watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said no minutes were kept of the meeting, and that one person in attendance who had kept notes had no record of the comments alleged to have been made.
The professor first made the allegations a year after the meeting during a television interview, and the IOPC said investigators had to rely on the recollections of the people present more than a year later because of the lack of written documentation.
IOPC director Amanda Rowe said: “Both Professor Stanko and Sir Stephen are of impeccable good character and have served long and esteemed careers in the public service for which they have been awarded the highest honours.
“This meeting involved robust challenges between professionals with differing styles and there may have been an element of a personality clash. Professional discussions on sensitive matters will rarely amount to breaches of the standards of professional behaviour.
“We found evidence that indicated Sir Stephen did use the phrase ‘regretful sex’, but the recollections of those present do not indicate it was used in the context alleged, and in our view there has been a degree of misunderstanding.
“We also considered Sir Stephen’s career history, previous actions and public remarks about combatting violence against women and girls and sexual offences, which supported his assertion that the alleged comments did not reflect his stance on the issue.”
