Met officer charged after Panorama investigation into alleged misconduct at Charing Cross station

A Metropolitan Police sergeant has become the first person to be charged as a result of a BBC Panorama undercover investigation into alleged misconduct at Charing Cross police station.

Sgt Sadiq Al-Hasani, 37, is accused of perverting the course of justice and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

The charge relates to an allegation that Al-Hasani, who was attached to the Met's Central West Command Unit, sought to discourage another officer from providing a statement to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

According to the Met, the charge was authorised in connection with an incident alleged to have taken place on 2 October 2025.

The IOPC said Al-Hasani is accused of approaching a junior officer, considered a potential key witness in the wider Charing Cross investigation, with the intention of obstructing or interfering with the watchdog's inquiries.

He remains suspended from duty, Scotland Yard said.The police watchdog launched its investigation after receiving a mandatory conduct referral from the Met on 3 October 2025.

Its inquiry concluded in June, after which investigators passed a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The wider investigation was triggered by the broadcast of the BBC Panorama programme Undercover in the Police, which aired in October 2025 and examined allegations of misconduct linked to Charing Cross police station.