TV host 'feels free' after Met PC misconduct ruling

A former Metropolitan Police officer used a fake identity to groom and manipulate TV presenter Jackie Adedeji into a sexual relationship when she was in her early 20s, a misconduct panel has found.

Jackie Adedeji, now 31, told the panel that then-Met PC Ian Steel lied about who he was for more than two years as he used her "to fulfil his racialised sexual fantasy".

The misconduct panel ruled that Steel committed gross misconduct and said he would have been dismissed had he not already resigned.

Following the conclusion of the hearing, Adedeji told BBC London: "For the first time in 10 years, I feel free."

"The shame has disappeared, the silence has disappeared. I found my voice all over again," she said.

"I've stood up for the 22-year-old version of me that felt voiceless."

The hearing was held by City of London Police, where Steel had transferred to in 2022 before resigning a couple of years later.

Adedeji, who waived her right to anonymity, reported his behaviour to the Independent Office for Police Conduct in November 2023 and described the process from start to finish as "the biggest fight of my life".

The panel heard that she first met Steel in June 2016, when she was 22 and out with friends in Shoreditch. He was 38 at the time and on duty as a plain-clothes officer.

It heard he claimed to be "Danny Stevens", an undercover officer with no family.

Their relationship continued sporadically until it ended in 2021, during which he met her on multiple occasions while on duty.

Steel originally denied a number of claims, including sexual activity in an alleyway.

All allegations against him were proven, and he has now been placed on the police barred list, preventing him from returning to policing.

Reflecting on the misconduct findings, Adedeji said: "It feels powerful because it's a classic case of he said, she said, and my story never changed.

"It doesn't benefit me to lie and the truth always prevails in the end."

She urged others to come forward if they feel they have been mistreated, saying: "It is never too late to stand up for yourself when you feel you've been violated.

"You don't deserve to live in silence. You can only heal from what you reveal."

Ch Supt Sanjay Andersen, head of professionalism and trust for the City of London Police, said: "We also acknowledge how difficult and lengthy this process has been for her, and we are grateful for the courage it took to come forward and see it through.

"The findings of gross misconduct reflect behaviour that falls far below the standards the public rightly expect from police officers."

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