A Metropolitan Police sergeant has become the first person charged with a criminal offence arising from a BBC Panorama investigation into alleged misconduct at Charing Cross police station. Sergeant Sadiq Al Hasani, aged 37 and attached to the force’s Central West Command Unit, has been charged with perverting the course of justice.
Prosecutors allege that on 2 October 2025 he approached a junior officer, described as a potential key witness in the wider inquiry, and deliberately sought to discourage that officer from making a statement to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The Metropolitan Police said the charge related to an allegation that Al Hasani deliberately sought to discourage another officer from making a statement to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The IOPC said he allegedly approached the junior officer with the intention to obstruct or interfere with the investigation. Al Hasani remains suspended from duty. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 30 September 2026. He was charged on 13 August 2026.
A serving sergeant based at Charing Cross was arrested on suspicion of the same offence on 2 October 2025 in connection with an incident that day, then bailed and suspended. Internal reporting mechanisms at the force brought the matter to light, according to a Metropolitan Police statement at the time. The alleged conduct occurred the day after BBC Panorama broadcast Undercover in the Police on 1 October 2025.
Journalist Rory Bibb spent seven months working undercover as a designated detention officer in the custody suite at Charing Cross, one of London’s busiest police stations. Secret filming captured officers making racist comments, bragging about violence used against suspects, dismissing a rape allegation, and making misogynistic and anti Muslim remarks. The programme prompted a mandatory conduct referral from the Metropolitan Police to the IOPC on 3 October 2025. The watchdog independently investigated, including by reviewing footage gathered for the programme that was not broadcast.
That investigation concluded in June 2026. Investigators then referred a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, which authorised the charge against Al Hasani. Perverting the course of justice is a common law offence in England and Wales. It is triable only in the Crown Court and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Sentencing in any individual case depends on the facts presented to the court. The criminal allegation against Al Hasani is separate from the disciplinary findings already reached against other officers whose conduct appeared in the broadcast or in additional unaired footage later provided by the BBC. According to the IOPC, 15 officers have been found to have committed gross misconduct. All except one of those 15, a former police constable, have been barred from policing.
Investigations continue into the conduct of a further 14 officers or police staff. Those misconduct findings concerned comments and behaviour including racism, misogyny, trivialising rape allegations, and glorifying the use of force against detainees. Several officers were dismissed after accelerated misconduct hearings held by the Metropolitan Police. The IOPC has described the overall inquiry as one of its largest in terms of the number of officers examined.
Further disciplinary proceedings remain possible as remaining cases progress. One other officer remains under criminal investigation in connection with an allegation of excessive force. No public statement from Al Hasani or any legal representative has been issued. The Metropolitan Police and the IOPC have limited their comments to the formal description of the charge and the status of the wider inquiry.
