‘They call him the tunneller’: meet the new head of the Met police

Dressed in full uniform and clutching a clipboard, Mark Rowley walked out of the Royal Courts of Justice in London, down the steps and towards a row of microphones. It was January 2014. An inquest into the fatal police shooting in Tottenham of Mark Duggan had just concluded with a verdict of ‘lawful killing’ and the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner had a statement to make. As he began to speak, there were shouts from a group of Duggan’s supporters nearby. ‘Murderers, liars, racists, scum!’ they screamed, drowning out the officer’s words. One man came up to him, just inches from his face, and hurled abuse, but Rowley carried on.

That incident sums up the character of Sir Mark Peter Rowley (he was knighted in 2018), who has just been announced as the new Met Commissioner. Some police officers might have gone back inside once the crowds started to gather. Others would have made their remarks in the safer surroundings of New Scotland Yard.