Former Met police officer jailed for rape of female colleague and 16-year-old girl

The Metropolitan police protected a predatory rapist within their ranks, dismissing the complaints of one of his victims and leaving him free to attack a teenager, a judge has said.

- Vikram Dodd

Adam Provan, 44, was jailed yesterday for 16 years, followed by eight years on licence, for eight counts of raping two victims between 2003 and 2010. The former officer was convicted in June of six counts of rape of a female police officer with whom he had been in a relationship between 2003 and 2005, and two counts of rape of a 16-year-old girl in 2010.

Judge Noel Lucas KC said the force should be ashamed that its response to the female officer's complaint had been "abysmal and shocking" and that they had been more interested in "looking out for one of their own".

The first victim, who is still a police officer, said Provan thought he was untouchable and that she feared she would be killed. The trial at Wood Green crown court heard that he held a pillow over her face and burned her with a kettle as part of a campaign of "abuse and harassment".

The woman complained to the Met about stalking and harassment by Provan in 2005. In a statement, she said she was labelled by fellow officers as a "griefy plonk", making her reluctant to make a full statement at the time. She only came forward to report the rapes in 2019.