TV presenter Jackie Adedeji was groomed by Met PC who used a false identity to begin a relationship with her while hiding the fact he secretly had another family, a misconduct panel has found
A TV presenter was groomed by a police officer who used a false identity to begin a relationship with her while hiding the fact he secretly had another family, a misconduct panel has found.
Jackie Adedeji, 31, told the hearing that PC Ian Steel lied about who he was for more than two years as he used her “to fulfil his racialised sexual fantasy”. The misconduct panel found Steel guilty of gross misconduct and said he would have been dismissed had he not already resigned.
Ms Adedeji, who presents episodes of investigative TV show Untold and appeared on BBC3, told the BBC: “For the first time in 10 years, I feel free. The shame has disappeared, the silence has disappeared. I found my voice all over again. I’ve stood up for the 22-year-old version of me that felt voiceless.”
The hearing was held by City of London Police, where Steel had moved to in 2022 before resigning a couple of years later. Ms Adedeji first met Steel in June 2016, when she was 22 and out with friends in Shoreditch, east London.
He was 38 at the time, living with a partner and his child, and on duty as a plain-clothes officer. The Met police officer claimed to be “Danny Stevens”, an undercover officer with no family.
Their relationship continued until it ended in 2021, during which he met her on multiple occasions while on duty. Steel had previously denied a number of the claims, including sexual activity in an alleyway.
All allegations against him were proven. He has now been placed on the police barred list, preventing him from returning to policing. Ms Adedeji, who waived her right to anonymity, reported him to the Independent Office for Police Conduct three years ago.
Ms Adedeji said: “It feels powerful because it’s a classic case of he said, she said, and my story never changed. It doesn’t benefit me to lie and the truth always prevails in the end.”
She urged others to come forward if they feel they have been mistreated, saying: “It is never too late to stand up for yourself when you feel you’ve been violated. You don’t deserve to live in silence. You can only heal from what you reveal.”
Ch Supt Sanjay Andersen, head of professionalism and trust for the City of London Police, said: “We also acknowledge how difficult and lengthy this process has been for her, and we are grateful for the courage it took to come forward and see it through.
“The findings of gross misconduct reflect behaviour that falls far below the standards the public rightly expect from police officers.”
