A former officer with London's Metropolitan Police was on Tuesday (22) jailed for 16 years for a series of rapes, in the latest scandal to hit the force.
Adam Provan, 44, was found guilty in June of raping a 16-year-old girl in 2010 and six counts of rape against a fellow police officer.
Sentencing him at London's Wood Green Crown Court, judge Noel Lucas highlighted the "persistence and seriousness" of Provan's crimes, and said he had displayed a "cold-blooded entitlement to sex".
That Provan was "someone members of the public have an entitlement to feel was someone of the highest trustworthiness" was particularly "troubling", he added.
The Met -- the largest police force in the country -- has been under pressure from a string of scandals, including the high-profile kidnap, rape and murder of London woman Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens.
Since then another officer, David Carrick, has also been jailed for life for dozens of rapes and sexual assaults stretching back two decades.
The Met revealed in January that 1,071 of its own officers had been or were under investigation for domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.
Provan's crimes were finally uncovered in 2016 when a woman told police he had raped her on a blind date when she was 16, six years earlier.
He was also found guilty of raping a fellow officer between 2003 and 2005.
Another colleague said that he repeatedly sent her "nuisance" messages, but nothing was done about it.
The crimes were committed while Provan was a serving officer in the Met's East Area Command Unit.
He was first convicted of raping the teenager in 2018 and jailed for nine years, but only served three years after the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial.
At the new trial, six more charges of rape, relating to Provan's attacks on the female officer, were added to the original accusations.
He was found guilty in June of a total of eight rapes against the two women.
In a victim impact statement, the first accuser said: "No amount of justice will make me forget the date from hell.
"Even though I tried my best to block it out I will never forget how scared I was when the assault took place and 13 years later reliving my worst nightmare."
The second victim told the court Provan believed he was "untouchable".
Judge Lucas said the treatment she received from the Metropolitan Police was "abysmal" and "shocking."
(AFP)
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)