// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Met Police officer charged after BBC Charing Cross investigation
A Metropolitan Police officer has become the first person to be charged as a result of a BBC Panorama investigation into alleged misconduct at Charing Cross police station in London.
Sgt Sadiq Al-Hasani, 37, has been charged with perverting the course of justice.
He will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Met Police said the charge related to an allegation Sgt Al-Hasani, who was attached to Central West Command Unit, "deliberately sought to discourage another officer from making a statement to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)".
The IOPC had begun an investigation following the broadcast on 1 October 2025 of BBC Panorama – Undercover in the Police.
As part of the programme, a BBC journalist went undercover working in the custody suite, secretly filming a number of officers making racist comments and bragging about violence used against suspects.
Al-Hasani was charged on 13 August in relation to an incident on 2 October 2025.
In a statement, the IOPC said Sgt Al-Hasani allegedly approached a junior officer, who was a potential key witness in the wider Charing Cross investigation, with the intention to obstruct or interfere with the probe.
The IOPC began its investigation after a mandatory conduct referral from the Met on 3 October.
As part of this, the IOPC reviewed footage gathered as part of the programme which was not broadcast.