Former Met Police officer found guilty of multiple rapes including involving child under 13

A former Metropolitan Police officer has been found guilty of multiple counts of rape including involving a child under 13 years old, Scotland Yard has said. Cliff Mitchell, 24, of Putney, approached one of his victims with a knife in September 2023 and told her to put her arms behind her back, before tying her up with cable ties and putting tape over her mouth.

He was found guilty of 10 counts of rape, three counts of rape of a child under 13, one count of kidnap, and breach of a non-molestation order following a trial at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday (February 21). He was a serving PC in Hounslow when a number of the offences were committed.

One of Mitchell’s victims said he forced her and another person to get into his car and only managed to escape by saying she had to get out of the vehicle because she felt sick. She was later seen running through traffic by members of the public before a passer-by noticed what was going on and managed to get her in her vehicle before calling 999, his trial was told.

An alert was put out for Mitchell’s car and he was stopped and arrested around seven miles away in Putney. Officers from the team searched Mitchell’s car and recovered the hooded top. A search of an address linked to Mitchell found a bag containing cable ties, similar to those the victim had described as being used around her wrists.

Mitchell was remanded in custody and charged with multiple counts of rape, kidnap and breach of a non-molestation order. He was immediately suspended.

He had previously been subject to a rape investigation in 2017, which had resulted in no further action. Following his arrest, the case was re-investigated and a file passed to the Crown Prosecution Service. This resulted in Mitchell being charged with three additional counts of rape of a child under 13 and three counts of rape. These six charges relate to a second victim and occurred between 2014 and 2017.

He was then dismissed from the force in December 2023 following an accelerated misconduct hearing for breach of a non-molestation order which had been in place since July 20, 2023. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said: “This is a truly shocking case and I am sickened by Mitchell’s abhorrent behaviour and the pain he has caused the victims, who have shown enormous bravery by coming forward and giving evidence in court.

“It is down to their courage that he has been convicted and faces a significant custodial sentence. I would also like to recognise the brave member of the public who came to the aid of one of the victims as she ran from Mitchell’s car.

“Mitchell not only carried out a sustained campaign of abuse against both of his victims, but he told one of them she would never be believed due to the fact he was a police officer. This brazen abuse of power makes Mitchell’s actions all the more deplorable.

“I know this is another case which will impact the confidence people have in us. We are doing more than we have done in decades to rid the Met of those who corrupt our integrity, including investing millions of pounds into our professional standards team and bringing in additional officers and staff with specialist skills and experience to investigate criminality and misconduct.

“Part of that is dismissing officers who should not be here at the earliest opportunity. Mitchell was dismissed from the Met in December 2023 - we did not wait for his conviction today.”

Mitchell applied to join the Met in 2020 and started his training in August 2021. On finishing training school, he worked as a neighbourhoods officer in Hounslow between June 2022 and May 2023, before joining the response team.