Plan B Forum

A woman who failed to reveal she was a convicted thief when she applied to become a police constable is suing Scotland Yard for discrimination.

Rachida Sobhi’s bid to become a WPC was turned down when background checks revealed she had a criminal record for stealing from a previous employer. But she has launched legal action against the force, claiming that she has amnesia that caused her to forget her crime – but no other aspect of her life.

It is believed that Ms Sobhi is the first person with amnesia to have been declared disabled for the purposes of an employment tribunal.

Astonishingly, her claim has been backed by a renowned psychiatrist – but the Metropolitan Police is ‘vigorously’ contesting her case, arguing that her condition is irrelevant as she would not be allowed to become a constable with her criminal record in any case.

The case, which has been described as ‘bizarre’, has raised fresh concerns about the compensation culture in the police. Earlier this year The Mail on Sunday revealed that PC Kelly Jones was suing a petrol station owner because she tripped over his kerb while investigating a possible break-in.

Ms Sobhi, who is already employed by the Met as a Police Community Support Officer, has had her case dismissed by an employment tribunal. But she won the right to a fresh hearing after a senior judge ruled she was indeed disabled when she filled in the application form.

As a PCSO – nicknamed ‘plastic police’ because of their lack of arrest powers – she can earn up to £28,539 a year. She previously worked in Notting Hill in West London and continues to be employed by the Met as part of a ‘safer neighbourhoods team’ in Bromley, South East London, patrolling local streets with regular police officers and attending community events.
Mr Justice Keith allowed a new hearing. He said that she forgot about her conviction due to traumatic events in her life

Mr Justice Keith allowed a new hearing. He said that she forgot about her conviction due to traumatic events in her life

In August 2008 she applied to become a constable but when her fingerprints were taken as part of the process it emerged that she had a criminal record.

‘She had been convicted in 1991 of an offence of theft from a previous employer for which she had been conditionally discharged,’ according to the judgment of the appeal tribunal published this week.

It is understood she had been a cashier in a department store in Brixton, South London, and was arrested with other staff for stealing make-up.

Friends say she protested her innocence at the time but she was convicted and received a conditional discharge, which means the offence went on her criminal record but she received no further punishment.

Ms Sobhi received a disciplinary reprimand for not mentioning the conviction in her initial application to become a PCSO or during her attempt to become a PC.

Undeterred, in November 2009 she applied again to become a constable and was knocked back because of her reprimand – but bosses made clear her conviction would have ruled her out anyway. Although around 1,000 police officers and PCSOs in England and Wales are thought to have criminal records, those found guilty of serious offences such as dishonesty are not allowed to serve in the force.

A year later Ms Sobhi, who is of Moroccan background and thought to be in her early 40s, filed a claim in the London Central employment tribunal ‘complaining of discrimination on the ground of her sex, her sexual orientation, her religion or beliefs, her age and her disability’ against the Met and several individuals.

It was claimed that the Met treated her ‘less favourably’ because of her condition and failed to take ‘reasonable steps’ to accommodate her.

‘Her case is that when she had originally applied to become a police constable, she had forgotten about her conviction and the facts to which it related as a result of traumatic events in her life,’ said tribunal judge Mr Justice Keith.

The Met apparently accepts she was suffering from ‘dissociative amnesia’ – a form of mental illness that involves gaps in memory – when she filled in the questionnaire. But its lawyers say she should have admitted ‘she did not know whether or not she had any convictions’.

At a pre-hearing review in May 2011, neuropsychiatrist Michael Kopelman said Ms Sobhi had been suffering from depression.