Serial rapists including David Carrick were left in the ranks of the Metropolitan police because of a failure to carry out necessary vetting on thousands of officers and staff, it has been revealed.

An internal review by the force found it had lowered vetting checks into the backgrounds of prospective and existing police officers and staff between 2013 and 2023.

The Home Office said the Met estimated that more than 5,000 officers and staff were recruited without the right checks. It has been unable to confirm if pre-employment checks were carried out on around 17,000 officers and staff.

The Guardian revealed last September that approximately 300 new recruits may have had substandard or no vetting. But the Met’s report found that 1,400 officers who should have been flagged by vetting were left in the force with police powers.

The Met found evidence that 131 officers committed criminal or misconduct offences, ranging from rape to drug offences, hate crimes and lower levels infractions such as being intoxicated on duty.

Among those who joined or stayed in the force because of defective vetting was Cliff Mitchell, hired despite an unproven child rape allegation and later convicted of 10 counts of rape, including three of raping a child under the age of 13.