Top police marksman awarded £5,000 after senior officer calls him 'serial killer' in jest



Commander Sue Akers introduced herself to a police marksman with the remark, 'I've always wanted to meet the Met's very own serial killer'

A police marksman has been awarded £5,000 in damages for 'hurt feelings' after a senior woman officer jokingly called him a 'serial killer'.

The firearms officer - nicknamed 'Killer' because of his skill in shooting suspects dead during armed sieges - received the payout after Scotland Yard decided defending the action would be a waste of public money.

Commander Sue Akers, who is in charge of the Metropolitan Police's fight against gun crime, made the joke as she introduced herself to the officer at a social function.

She told him: 'I've always wanted to meet the Met's very own serial killer.'

But the unnamed officer, who is a member of the elite CO19 firearms unit, failed to see the funny side and filed a complaint.

Miss Akers was said to have been mortified by his reaction and made a formal apology.

But after fears he might take legal action, the Met agreed to a payout after calculating that going to an employment tribunal would cost £150,000. The officer is believed to have retained his job in CO19.

Scotland Yard confirmed yesterday that the officer had accepted £5,000 in settlement at the end of 2006.

A spokesman said: 'In late 2006 the Metropolitan police settled a threatened civil action by a serving officer in connection with an allegation that inappropriate comments were made to him by a senior officer.



'The matter was settled and no further action was taken.'

Details of the payout have emerged just two months before the inquest into the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell tube station in South London in July 2005.



The Brazilian electrician was shot dead by firearms officer after being mistaken for a July 21 bomber on the run.

The firearms officers who shot him are to give evidence in public at the inquest for first time, though their identities will be kept secret.



Commander Akers has served in the Met for 32 years and was staff officer to Sir Ian Blair when he was deputy commissioner. She is held in high esteem by colleagues of all ranks and has a no-nonsense attitude.



In 2003, the former murder squad detective helped actress Helen Mirren to research her role as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison in the hit ITV drama Prime Suspect.



Mirren said of the police: 'I don't know how they do it. It's not the difficulty of the actual job; it's the environment in which they have to work.



'The police are on the front line of all the mistakes the politicians make. It's very, very difficult to see that level of pain and struggle and unpleasantness every day.



'I'm surprised they don't all retire at 35.'

