Met officer wins damages over Sky misconduct claim

Ch Supt Simon Crick said he felt forced to retire earlier than planned because of the claims

A retired Metropolitan Police officer is to receive "substantial damages" from Sky to settle a High Court claim, after it falsely said he used taxpayer money to facilitate sexual encounters with female colleagues.

Barristers for former Ch Supt Simon Crick told a hearing on Wednesday he felt forced to retire earlier than planned in November last year because of the claims, which were published in April 2024.

The article claimed Mr Crick had committed professional misconduct and had been removed from active duty while misconduct proceedings were ongoing.

Matthew McKenzie, for Sky, said the organisation "should never have made these allegations" and "apologises for the harm caused".

'Reputational damage'

Reading an agreed statement, Nikila Kaushik, for Mr Crick, said the two entities, Sky Limited and Sky UK Limited, are within the Sky Group and publish Sky News and its website.

She said they were responsible for an online article published on 3 April last year, headlined: "Police chief accused of using taxpayer money to book hotels for sex with female colleagues".

Ms Kaushik said Sky had accepted "the allegations were false" and had agreed to pay Mr Crick damages and his legal costs.

Mr McKenzie said: "The defendants through me acknowledge that the allegations were false and apologise to the claimant for the damage to his reputation, and his distress.

"Sky is happy to set the record straight and undertakes to this court never to repeat them."

At the end of the short hearing in London, Mr Justice Linden said he was "pleased to see this matter has been resolved".

An apology was also published on the Sky News website on Wednesday.