Met officer dismissed over curiosity-driven access to Couzens records

Metropolitan Police officer Clare Tett was dismissed without notice after a tribunal found she had improperly accessed police records connected to Sarah Everard’s murder, the BBC reported on 9 November 2026. The panel concluded that personal curiosity, rather than police duties, drove her searches and that her actions amounted to gross misconduct.

Tett accessed custody records for Wayne Couzens and his wife, alongside the crime reporting system for Everard’s case, on 10 March 2021, before Couzens was publicly named. She had no role in the investigation. Tett initially argued that accessing the case served a legitimate purpose by refreshing her licence on a system. The tribunal found breaches of confidentiality and rules governing officers’ conduct.

The case concerned access to sensitive police information by an officer outside the investigation. According to the BBC, Tett was among several officers identified as accessing related material without an apparent policing purpose. The High Court had previously ruled that seven officers accessed the files without a professional reason.