Rapist Met PC who told victim ‘you’ve met the devil’ jailed for life | UK News

A rapist Met Police officer who told one victim ‘you’ve met the devil’ as he tied her up and threatened to stab her during a harrowing attack has been jailed for life.

Cliff Mitchell, 24, kidnapped and raped one of his victims with a knife in September 2023.

He laughed at her while she cried, told her she was a ‘slut’, and sneered that nobody would believe her if she complained because he was a police officer.

Mitchell was found guilty of 10 counts of rape, three counts of rape of a child under 13, one count of kidnap and breach of a non-molestation order following a trial at Croydon Crown Court.

He was handed a life sentence at the same court today with a minimum term of 14 years.

During the trial, jurors heard how one of Mitchell’s victims was forced to get into his car and warned that if she tried to run away he would stab her, saying: ‘I don’t care about my life any more, you’ve met the devil.’

She only managed to escape by saying she had to get out of the vehicle because she felt sick.

The woman was later seen running through traffic by members of the public before a passer-by noticed what was going on and managed to get her in her vehicle.

In a 999 call played to the court, the distressed woman told the operator ‘he’s kidnapped me’.

Mitchell had previously been subject to a rape investigation in 2017, which had resulted in no further action.

Following his arrest in 2023, the case was reinvestigated which resulted in Mitchell being charged with an additional three counts of rape of a child under 13 and three counts of rape.

The court heard how the women suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder from their ordeals and struggles they now face in daily life.

The other victim, who said she lives in constant fear, said to Mitchell in court: ‘I’m holding you account for your actions, you took away my self-worth.

‘You are a pathetic excuse of a man. I’m letting myself heal from the trauma.’

Mitchell, of Wandsworth, south-west London, was a PC in the Met’s West Area Basic Command Unit.

He was serving in Hounslow when a number of the offences were committed. He was suspended from the force after the allegations came to light and was dismissed in December 2023.

The judge, Mrs Justice May, said: ‘Cliff Mitchell is clearly a deeply troubled young man… [his] serious offending appears to have arisen for desire for control.

‘The fact he was a police officer, albeit for a short time, will make imprisonment a harsher experience for him.’