A woman who endured grooming by a predatory Metropolitan Police officer has expressed profound regret over reporting him, despite receiving a substantial financial settlement from the force. Identified only as Lorraine, she described her nine-year struggle for truth and accountability as “horrendous” and even worse than the abuse itself, suggesting a deep-seated failure within the Met's internal processes.
Lorraine's ordeal began in 2017 when she met former PC Phil Hunter during a welfare visit. Hunter subsequently engaged in a two-year campaign of sending inappropriate messages and attempting to isolate her from her support network, a deliberate and predatory strategy aimed at initiating a sexual relationship. He was found guilty of gross misconduct at a disciplinary panel in August 2024, a decision that followed an earlier conviction for similar behaviour towards another vulnerable woman he had met during a welfare visit.
Crucially, Lorraine's complaints were initially dismissed, even though the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) was aware of Hunter's prior misconduct involving another victim. She recounted being told by officers that “police predators only exist in the mind of Daily Mail readers,” and that her concerns were baseless. This initial dismissal, coupled with a seven-year period of what the DPS later admitted were “a series of failings,” including not recording her initial allegations and attributing her concerns to mental health issues without basis, compounded her distress.
Her case gained prominence when it was highlighted in Baroness Casey's scathing 2023 review of the Met, which unequivocally stated the force was “institutionally misogynistic.” The review specifically noted Lorraine had been “traumatised” not only by PC Hunter but also by her treatment from the DPS, calling for urgent reforms to the misconduct system. Despite the Met apologising and accepting that her experience with the DPS had exacerbated her distress, Lorraine's journey for justice was protracted, with the disciplinary panel only proceeding after intervention from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Further revelations from a March 2025 letter from the DPS to Lorraine detailed admissions of “victim-blaming” by Met officers, inaccurate information about her being recorded on police systems and shared, and defamatory information being passed to her GP by a third party. Shockingly, when Lorraine sought an investigation into the actions of officers, she discovered she had been internally labelled a “fixated complainant” – a term typically reserved for those making persistent or vexatious complaints. Lorraine views this as further evidence that the Met's culture remains unchanged, despite the apologies and financial settlement.