"Two or three Met police officers could be in court every week"

The Metropolitan Police commissioner says two or three of his officers could appear in court every week in the coming months.

He's warning more "painful" stories will come out as the force tries to change its "systemic failings".

At the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee, Sir Mark Rowley apologised again to victims of serial rapist and former officer, David Carrick.

But he says weeding out corruption means more revelations will emerge.

“As we put in more resources, more assertive tactics, as we’re more open to people reporting incidents to us both from within the organisation and from the public, and as we more determinedly take on these cases, it will tackle the problems we face.

“But it won’t be rapid and it will be painful. In that context, we need your support and the support of the people of London.

“Please don’t lose heart as we confront these issues and as we do this necessary and painful work to finally rid the organisation of those who corrupt our integrity.”

Sir Mark was speaking in the wake of the case of Pc David Carrick, who served as a Met officer for 20 years before being unmasked as one of the country's most prolific sex offenders.

The 48 year old admitted 49 offences against multiple women.

In the wake of Carrick's guilty plea last week, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said more disturbing cases involving police officers could be uncovered in the short term.

Around 1,000 previous cases involving Met officers and staff who were accused of sexual offences or domestic violence are now being reviewed to make sure they were handled correctly.

This is expected to be completed by the end of March.

A new Met Police integrity hotline has also received 10s of calls a week, leading to new investigations, Sir Mark said, a third of which relate to other forces.

He told the committee: "Even though this is a Met appeal, one in three of the calls coming through roughly are for other forces. We're passing information on as well.

"Through our challenges, we're helping the rest of policing confront some issues as well."

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