Des O’Connor’s daughter takes Met to High Court over ‘predatory’ behaviour of cop who called her ‘amazingly hot’
DES O'Connor's daughter has taken the Met Police to court over the "predatory" behaviour of a cop when she was mugged.
Kristina O'Connor was sent a string of messages by James Mason after he responded to the attempted robbery.
The detective branded her "amazingly hot" and asked her out for dinner while taking Kristina's statement.
A misconduct panel found Mason "deliberately and repeatedly abused his position for a sexual purpose" and that his actions amounted to gross misconduct.
He was handed a final written warning and later went on to work alongside former Met commissioner Dame Cressida Dick.
Kristina has now taken the force and the panel to the High Court for failing to address Mason's "predatory and abusive behaviour".
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In written argument, her lawyers Fiona Murphy KC and Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC accused the panel of not regarding the effect that Mason's actions would have on public confidence.
They also claimed they placed "prominent reliance" on the harm caused to the detective if he lost his job.
Ms Murphy and Ms Gallagher said the panel concluded "only that his motivations were sexual and his intentions were to seek to form a personal relationship".
The lawyers added: "They failed to have any regard to the directly discriminatory nature of his conduct.
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"It was absolutely not sufficient for the panel to leave those considering its conclusions to infer that they would have the fact that Ms O'Connor is a woman at the 'forefront of their mind' nor is it possible to in fact infer that they did so from the mere reference to a sexual motive.
"The direct discrimination in this matter went far beyond Mr Mason's sexual motivation."
Kristina, whose comic dad Des passed away in 2020, had called police when she was attacked by a gang who attempted to steal her phone in London back in 2011.
She was interviewed by Mason, and says he asked "invasive" questions with "sexual overtones".
In one message, he said: "If you ever fancy having a drink with a very discreet police officer, just let me know, it would be my pleasure.
"If you have any visible injuries that you would like me to record then I am happy to take a picture for you and save it in case we manage to get any further in the investigation.
"I hope it doesn’t hurt too much and I am sure you still look amazingly hot.”
In a Met misconduct hearing in 2021, Mason was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour on eight counts.
Despite this, he was issued with only a final written warning, which will last for three years, and was allowed to keep his rank.
Mason resigned from the force in November 2022.
In respect of the panel, Kristina's claim concerns its decision to impose the sanction of a final written warning
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The legal bid against the Met focuses on the handling of allegations against Mason.
The hearing will continue today with judgment expected at a later date.
