Met officer charged with sexually assaulting two women on duty
A constable from the Met's west London command unit faces two counts of sexual assault over incidents in 2020 and 2025. The case sits within a wider review of police standards after past abuse allegations.
What happened
A Metropolitan Police constable has been charged with two counts of sexual assault said to have taken place while he was on duty. He is PC Islam Abdel-Hady, 43, from the Met's West Area Basic Command Unit.
The charges relate to two separate incidents involving two women, reported to have happened in January 2020 and February 2025. Police say both women were known to the officer. He has been suspended from duty and was due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday 5 October. The charges are allegations and have not been tested in court.
How our readers reacted
Four people commented on our Facebook post about the case, with most responses negative and a smaller number neutral. They mainly discussed police misconduct, how police employment is handled, and calls for accountability. One reader asked whether this was effectively a condition of joining the force.
Why it matters
The case comes as the Met continues a wider effort to address standards and rebuild trust after previous abuse cases involving its staff. In January 2023 the force said it was reviewing 1,633 alleged sexual and domestic abuse cases from the previous decade, involving 1,071 officers and staff. That review followed the David Carrick case, in which he admitted 49 charges including 24 counts of rape against 12 women over 18 years, after multiple prior allegations had not led to charges or misconduct findings. The Met has since placed well over 500 officers on restricted duties and suspended several hundred more during standards investigations, so new charges against a serving officer are likely to be seen in the context of that ongoing scrutiny of misconduct and vetting.
The context
- PC Islam Abdel-Hady, 43, of the West Area Basic Command Unit, was charged with two counts of sexual assault over incidents said to have happened in January 2020 and February 2025. He was suspended and due at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 5 October.
- In January 2023 the Met said it was reviewing 1,633 cases of alleged sexual offences and domestic abuse from the previous ten years. The cases involved 1,071 officers and staff.
- The review followed the case of PC David Carrick. He admitted 49 charges, including 24 counts of rape, against 12 women over 18 years. He had come to police attention nine times before, but none of those allegations led to criminal charges or misconduct findings.
- Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said "well over 500" Met officers had been placed on restricted duties and "several hundred" suspended after investigations into police standards.
Readers mostly talked about police misconduct and conditions of police employment.