Lorna Jamous, who complained to the Metropolitan Police about the actions of her former barrister
Credit: Geoff Pugh/The Telegraph
The police watchdog is to examine Scotland Yard’s handling of its inquiry into a barrister struck off for misconduct.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is to open a review into the way the Metropolitan Police handled a complaint submitted by a former client of Alexander Mercouris over its investigation into his behaviour.
Lorna Jamous alleges that a sergeant in the Met’s Professional Standards Unit (PSU) failed to properly conduct an investigation into her claims that the Met had not carried out an adequate inquiry into allegations of fraud she had previously levelled against Mr Mercouris.
The beautician alleges that the now retired sergeant behaved corruptly by deliberately sabotaging the investigation in order to protect fellow officers.
Ms Jamous welcomed the decision of the IOPC to conduct a review into the Met’s handling of her complaints, telling The Telegraph: “My allegations of what Mercouris did to me and others should be investigated properly. I believe it is extremely important that public confidence is restored in the police complaints procedure and I now hope that matters will now be adequately and fairly investigated to restore public confidence."
She added: “I initially complained to the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards and informed them I had evidence which would support my very serious allegations. I was very surprised when I was informed that they had conducted the investigation within a matter of days with no attempt to contact me for my full account and obtain further evidence, yet still decided not to investigate further and closed my complaint.”
The Telegraph revealed in 2012 that Mr Mercouris was disbarred after a Bar Standards Board disciplinary tribunal found he had brought the profession into disrepute with his handling of her damages claim against Westminster Council over the care of her son Tariq.
Former barrister Alexander Mercouris appearing on RT television
The local authority offered the beautician £5,000 to settle, but Mr Mercouris falsely told her he had managed to win her £983,000 in compensation, prompting her to borrow money and go on holiday in anticipation of the windfall.
The Bar Standards Board heard that when the cash failed to materialise, Mercouris “embarked on ever more bizarre assertions to hide the truth”. These included fabricating a letter from Lady Hale, the then Deputy President of the Supreme Court, expressing concern about the near £1 million payment not having been made by Westminster.
Mr Mercouris also claimed he had been detained by bogus police officers and taken to a meeting with Lord Phillips, then President of the Supreme Court, and offered £50,000 to drop the claim.
An investigation into Mr Mercouris by the Met Police was closed after officers decided there was not enough evidence to bring a criminal case against him.
Following a complaint by Ms Jamous the case was reopened and Mr Mercouris was again interviewed under caution.
But in August 2012 the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided there was insufficient evidence to bring a prosecution and he was released with no further action.
Mr Mercouris has since reinvented himself as commentator on Russian affairs and international politics who regularly appears on the RT channel.
Following complaints by Ms Jamous an internal inquiry by the PSU concluded in 2018 that a Detective Inspector had not taken into account all the evidence available.
It found the officer failed to review recordings made by Mrs Jamous of conversations with Mr Mercouris which she said supported her claims he lied to her.
The PSU investigation also upheld Ms Jamous’s complaint that another officer failed to investigate allegations about Mr Mercouris’ treatment of another woman in similar circumstances.
But no disciplinary action can be taken against the two officers involved in the original case as they have now left the force.
Ms Jamous, 57, of Belgravia, west London, subsequently submitted a complaint to the PSU about the Police Sergeant, claiming that he attempted to pervert the course of justice by giving false information to a CPS lawyer regarding witnesses and that he protected the police officers he was supposed to be investigating in relation to her original complaints.
In a statement Scotland Yard said: “Subsequently a complaint was made against the Westminster Professional Standards officer who investigated the complaint. This was handled by officers from the Met Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) and this complaint was also not upheld.”
It added that a complaint against two DPS officers who handled the matter regarding the Westminster PSU sergeant is still being assessed.
An IOPC spokesperson said: “We have received an application to review the handling of a complaint against the Metropolitan Police Service. Our role is not to investigate the complaint but to consider whether the outcome and decisions reached were reasonable and proportionate.
“The review is awaiting allocation and we will keep the complainant and the force informed of our progress.”
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