A Redbridge police officer dismissed a woman who said she was raped as “drunk” and refused to take her crime report, the Metropolitan Police Service has admitted.

In a tearful interview with the Ilford Recorder, the victim described how a man drugged her, sexually assaulted her and held her prisoner in his car.

When he finally let her go, she flagged down a passing car and got the driver to take her straight to Ilford police station.

But, she said, the male officer behind the desk told her: “Go home. You’re just drunk.”

The Metropolitan Police has admitted the failure and “sincerely apologised”, but the officer will not be punished as the force said it could not identify him, despite “extensive efforts”.

The staff logs from that night have gone missing.

Mindy – not her real name – said that mystery officer’s actions meant her alleged rapist evaded justice and poses a continuing danger to women.

A subsequent investigation by West Midlands Police resulted in no charge, as the chance to gather crucial evidence had been lost.

“This is so serious, what they’ve done,” said Mindy. “The amount of women that get murdered – they need to be held accountable.”

She has not ruled out legal action against the Met.

“I don’t want them to get away with this,” she said.

Ilford Recorder: Mindy reported her rape immediately at Ilford police station - but an officer there told her she was drunk and sent her homeMindy reported her rape immediately at Ilford police station - but an officer there told her she was drunk and sent her home (Image: Google Streetview)

“Paralysed”

It started as a day out in Birmingham but ended in terror.

One moment, Mindy was having fun with her friends. The next, she was suddenly waking up on the back of a car. There was a man in the front, driving.

Mindy, in her 20s, knew right away she had been sexually assaulted.

“I could tell by my clothes and the way I was feeling,” she said.

When she spotted the time, she realised she had lost six hours. She believes her drink must have been spiked.

“I felt paralysed,” she said. “I couldn’t move.”

The man refused to let her out of his car.

“He said to give him my money and he would take me home,” said Mindy.

She didn’t have any cash, so the man made her do an online bank transfer.

Escape

The man ordered her to direct him all the way home from Birmingham to Redbridge.

She believes he wanted to know he knew where she lived, to keep her in fear of him.

When he finally let her out, she said, “I didn’t want to go home. I could see him following me.”

So she just kept walking, hoping he’d give up.

He didn’t.

Eventually, she said: “I screamed for help in the middle of the road and a car stopped. They took me to the police station.”

But when she got there, the officer dismissed her as a drunk and sent her home.

Devastated, she got in a taxi. When it reached her neighbourhood, the man was still waiting in his car.

 “I was hiding on the floor of the taxi,” she said. “Then I hid in a neighbour’s driveway until I thought it was safe.”

Mindy told one friend about the ordeal, she said, and then never spoke of it again.

Ilford Recorder: Mindy said she was speaking out because the Met Police needed to be held properly to accountMindy said she was speaking out because the Met Police needed to be held properly to account (Image: Charles Thomson)

No charges

In 2021, the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by PC Wayne Couzens sparked a reckoning for the Met Police.

Emboldened, Mindy returned to Ilford police station.

She reported being raped and asked to file a formal complaint about her treatment in 2019.

She still had her alleged rapist’s bank details from the bank transfer. She gave them to the police.

They said it wasn’t enough. There was insufficient evidence to file charges.

“But that’s their fault, because they didn’t take it seriously in 2019,” said Mindy, angrily.

“That’s why I went straight to the police station. But they didn’t do anything.

“I went to the police for help and they told me to go home.”

Apology

Days before a review branded the Met Police institutionally misogynistic last week, a professional standards investigator upheld Mindy’s complaint.

“As a victim of crime who attended a police station to report a serious offence, I can only imagine the lasting effect this may have had on you,” he wrote.

“Your allegation of a crime should have been taken seriously in 2019. For that reason I determine that the service provided was not acceptable.

“I sincerely apologise on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service.”