The widow of a former Scotland Yard detective who was falsely accused of corruption wants the force’s out-going top officer Dame Cressida Dick to apologise.
Nigel Waldron died of cancer last week shortly after receiving a five-figure payout from the Met police to settle his damages claim.
A report codenamed Tiberius accused him of working for the Adams crime family.
His widow Irene said: “I’m angry at the report and the people who wrote it. It had a severe negative impact and I believe led to Nigel’s decline in health. He was a good, honest officer and I think he’s owed an apology.”
Just before he died, retired detective sergeant Mr Waldron said: “It’s lies, lies, lies. I’ve done all I can to clear my name. The Met dragged it out.
“I’m proud of my service record. I was respected and I think people wanted to do me harm because of my standing.”
The report was written in 2002 by the Met’s anti-corruption squad, which inspired BBC drama Line of Duty.
It named 42 serving and retired detectives who it said worked for organised crime groups. A senior officer was suspected of leaking the report to a journalist in 2014. Most of those named retired with full pensions unaware they were suspected of corruption.
Mr Waldron, who retired in 1998 with an exemplary service certificate, learned about Tiberius in 2019.
The Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, was told that year by the anti-corruption squad none of the 42 officers were investigated, according to a memo of the meeting.
The police inspectorate this week said the Yard’s approach to tackling corruption is not fit for purpose. Ex-detective Martin Woods urged Met commissioner Dame Cressida to “do the right thing and apologise” while Mr Waldron was still alive. He wrote again days later to say Mr Waldron had died.
An officer who worked on the case that led to the conviction of Adams family members said he saw nothing to suggest Mr Waldron was corrupt.
Scotland Yard said it will not talk publicly about Tiberius, adding: “It is a secret document that details the threat of corruption to police employees posed by serious and organised criminals. The passage of time [doesn’t] reduce the risks to anti-corruption tactics, intelligence sources or current operations.”
Dame Cressida will stand down from the Met next month. It comes after London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he has lost confidence in her leadership.
