By Tom Pettifor
A former senior police officer is suing the Metropolitan Police claiming she was the target of a racist witch-hunt that “destroyed” her. Robyn Williams, 60, broke down as she told an employment tribunal she was the victim of a force headed by a “white female clique” and “white male pitbulls”. Ms Williams, who was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal during a 39-year career, is suing for racial and sexual discrimination, harassment and victimisation. She told the Central London Employment Tribunal: “I was their most successful and award winning black female officer and they destroyed me.” The Met repeatedly attempted to sack Ms Williams after she was convicted of possessing a video of child abuse that she was sent on WhatsApp but did not watch. She was the only one of 17 recipients of the video, sent by her sister, to be charged. Ms Williams says she was forced to resign last year due to concerns over her mental and physical health, The Times reported. The Met has denied the allegations and is defending the case. The ex-officer said in her witness statement that the video would have been dealt with internally had she been a white, male officer. “Despite my absolutely unblemished record, this crime was prosecuted in a way determined to take me down,” she said, alleging that the senior investigator “went for” her because he was “angry” she had backed a colleague who had complained of racism and bullying. Ms Williams was placed under investigation in February 2018 after the video of a young girl being sexually abused was discovered. She was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work and had to register as a sex offender for five years after being found guilty at the Old Bailey. The judge accepted that there was no sexual element to the crime. Ms Williams was sacked in March 2020 but she was reinstated after the decision was overturned by the police appeals tribunal. In her statement, Williams said: “I had been in a state of extreme distress and was overwhelmed psychologically. I had just been convicted, my life was shattered, my future upended and my mental health had been dramatically and very adversely impacted.” The Met made a failed challenge to the PAT ruling in the High Court. It then launched a separate investigation into allegations Ms Williams had failed to give police details of her bank cards before going abroad in an alleged breach of requirements under the sex offender register rules. It was a set-up, disproportionate and malicious,” said Ms Williams, who said the Met “pressured” the Crown Prosecution Service to bring charges against her. She broke down several times while giving evidence, The Times reported. Ms Williams said the Met could be 鈥渧indictive鈥 and characterised its approach as: 鈥淚f you get beyond your station as a Black woman, we鈥檒l take you out.鈥 Keith Bryant KC, representing the force, accused Williams of making 鈥渟weeping鈥 generalisations and 鈥渆mbellishing鈥 her story. The force are expected to call 16 witnesses, including senior and retired officers, during a hearing expected to last three weeks. A Met spokeswoman said: “The Metropolitan Police Service received an employment tribunal claim by then Supt Robyn Williams in October 2020. Former Supt Williams alleges race and sex discrimination, harassment related to race and/or sex, and victimisation. The MPS is defending the claims.”