Adam Provan: Timeline of Met Police serial rapist’s crimes - and every chance police chiefs missed to stop him

Former Met Police officer Adam Provan was yesterday jailed for 16 years after being found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl and a female police colleague.

The “cold-blooded” PC raped Lauren Taylor, then 16, on a blind date in 2010 - after lying to her about his age and identity. Now 29, Lauren has waived her right to anonymity to speak out about her “hellish” experience at the hands of Provan - as well as the “traumatic” three trials it took to bring him to justice.

Provan was also convicted of raping a fellow police officer six times between 2003 and 2005, which was said during his trial to be part of a “campaign of controlling, abusive behaviour”. All of his despicable offences were committed during his 16-year career as a PC, while he served in the Met’s East Area Command Unit.

When sentencing Provan, Judge Noel Lucas KC accused the Met of protecting “one of their own” after the court heard that a series of complaints had been made against Provan before he went on to rape Lauren in 2010. If these complaints had been taken “seriously”, Judge Lucas continued, the then-sixteen-year-old may have been “spared” the trauma she suffered.

The Met Police has since released a timeline of events - detailing when and how concerns were raised about Provan, what the responses were, and when he went on to commit his crimes. NationalWorld has compiled the information below.

2003

• February: Provan begins his police training.
• 27 May: An allegation of sexual touching was made against Provan by a 15-year-old girl (Girl 1).
• August: Provan joined a response team at Forest Gate.
• 19 September: Provan was interviewed under caution about the incident with Girl 1 - but no further action was taken following liaison with the CPS.
• 26 September: Concerns were raised by two members of the public about Provan’s suitability to be a police officer, referencing his overly violent and sexualised behaviour whilst growing up. Provan was referred to “occupational health professionals”.

2005

• 12 January: A Met Police officer (one of the victims who Provan has been convicted of repeatedly raping) spoke to her line manager to allege harassment by Provan. She claimed she was “talked out of pursuing the allegation for the sake of her own career”. Provan was warned about his behaviour and told not to contact her.
• May: Provan was moved to a response team at Barking and Dagenham.
• 28 June: An allegation was made that Provan had contacted a 16-year-old girl beyond what was required of her as a witness to a crime. The Met admitted that “there appears to be no professional standards involvement at the time”.
• 1 October: Provan’s phone number was attributed to nuisance calls being received by a serving female Met Police officer. The incident was dealt with ‘informally’.

2009

• 8 May: The female police officer (who was involved in Provan’s convictions at Wood Green Crown Court) reported to a manager that Provan had emailed her - despite him being told not to after her complaint in 2005. She said her manager told her to ignore the email and consider an injunction. She has since said Provan contacted her multiple times between 2005 and 2009.

2010

• Provan raped Lauren Taylor, then aged 16, after the two met on a blind date. He had lied to her about his age, and promised a walk in a park in Romford, east London, followed by a trip to the cinema. Instead, he took her to a woodland, raped her, then drove her to a playground where he sexually assaulted her again. No report was made at the time.

2013

• 5 July: Provan met a 17-year-old girl via an allegation of crime (Girl 2). The girl expressed a desire to join the police and Provan took her on a drive around in a marked car. She went on to become a serving officer in the Met and subsequently had a relationship with Provan.

2014

• 1 January: In another force area, a woman reported that a telephone number was pushed through her letterbox. No link to Provan was made at the time, but when he was arrested in 2016, checks showed the number to be his.

2016

• 1 June: Provan was arrested for the rape of Lauren Taylor. He was placed on restricted duties where he would have no face-to-face contact with the public. He was not sacked.

2017

• 5 April: Girl 2 alleged she was raped a number of times between 2014 and 2017 during her relationship with Provan.
• 18 April: Provan was suspended from the force.
• 27 July: Provan was charged with rape offences against Lauren Taylor, Girl 1 (the matter had been re-opened), and Girl 2.

2018

• Girl 2 withdrew from proceedings as she was unhappy with the support she was receiving. She later resigned from the Met.
• Provan was acquitted of the sexual touching of Girl 1.
• The trial relating to Lauren Taylor ended in a hung jury.
• 29 November: At a retrial, Provan was found guilty of raping Lauren Taylor. He was jailed for nine years.

2019

• March: Provan was dismissed from the Met and added to the Barred List held by the College of Policing.
• 27 March: The female police officer (who Provan has now been convicted of repeatedly raping) made formal allegations of rape. She said she did not have the confidence to do this sooner as her reports of harassment had not been taken seriously by her managers - but had gained the courage after hearing Lauren Taylor’s victim impact statement at the retrial in 2018.

2022

• February: Provan was released from prison on appeal.

2023

• 12 February: A woman made an allegation that Provan sexually assaulted her when she was 17. The case is currently with the CPS.
• 20 June: Following a third trial, Provan was convicted of raping Lauren Taylor and the female police officer. He was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing.
• 22 August: Provan was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his crimes.

During these years, Provan was successful in two vettings - once in 2003 upon joining the Met, and again in February 2015, even after various complaints were made against him.

The Met has said that the requirements at the time were not as “robust” as they are now, commenting: “It is now the case that if an officer or staff member is arrested or is being investigated for a serious offence, consideration is given to a full review of that individual’s circumstances including the possibility that re-vetting would be required.” Provan’s vetting history is now being reviewed against current processes.

The Met has also confirmed that Provan’s full history is being looked into - in order to “identify any concerns and whether we could have taken action against him sooner.” The instances which will form part of this review include:

• The female police officer’s complaints of harassment in 2005
• Provan’s contact with a 16-year-old witness in 2005
• The female police officer’s reports of Provan contacting her despite being told not to in 2009
• Provan not being linked to a report of a phone number being pushed through a letterbox in 2014

Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe said: “We are examining Provan’s criminal and conduct history in the Met so we can fully understand whether we could have acted sooner to bring him before the courts, or have stopped him joining the police.

“This work is ongoing but we can already see there were key moments where we let women down and did not do all we could to support them. We have told the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) we are carrying out a review and advised them that we will make appropriate referrals.

“We heard in evidence that when one victim, a serving Met Police officer, reported allegations against Provan in 2005, these were not taken seriously. She therefore did not have the confidence to report she had been raped by him. We are sincerely sorry this was her experience and that she was let down by a system she trusted and was serving.”

Assistant Commissioner Rolfe added that the Met is “transforming” and she hopes she can “say with confidence” that these concerns would not be dismissed today. She said that while she “does not underestimate” the impact cases like this have on the trust and confidence of women and girls, the Met would encourage anyone in a similar situation to report allegations.

“In the last year we have grown our professional standards teams to ensure we are robust in investigating matters at the earliest opportunity, in order to rid the Met of those who very clearly should not be a part of policing,” she concluded.