Met Police red-faced after huge email gaffe identifies Westminster honeypot trap victims

The Met Police said officers would beryllium 'reaching retired to those impacted to personally apologise' aft an email sent by the unit inadvertently named victims of the Westminster honeytrap scandal

The Metropolitan Police has apologised aft an embarrassing email gaffe accidentally identified victims of the 'Westminster honeytrap' scandal.

The email, sent by the unit connected Friday to victims of the investigation, inadvertently included the names of each recipients successful the CC tract - meaning they were disposable to anyone who received the email. This was alternatively of the email addresses being entered into the BCC field, which would person kept them private.

The email is understood to person been a regular update to the investigation, which is centred astir an alleged blackmail crippled against MPs. A Met spokesperson said the email was sent "in error" and confirmed constabulary officers would beryllium making idiosyncratic apologies to those affected. A referral has present been made to the Information Commissioner's Office, which regulates the usage of information by nationalist bodies.

The Met Police spokesperson said: “An email relating to an ongoing probe was sent successful mistake today. We recognise the interaction connected those progressive and apologise sincerely for immoderate distress. A referral to the Information Commissioner's Office has been made and we await proposal connected adjacent steps. Officers volition beryllium reaching retired to those impacted to personally apologise and supply reassurance.”

One of the alleged victims identified successful the email told the BBC: "It’s infuriating to person your idiosyncratic details released successful this way. It volition marque maine deliberation doubly astir reporting thing to the Met again."

Police launched an probe into the Westminster Honeypot ungraded this twelvemonth aft respective MPs and unit were contacted by a enigma fig who tried to get them to nonstop explicit images successful a imaginable blackmail plot. In April, erstwhile Tory MP William Wragg admitted giving retired chap politicians' telephone numbers to the suspected perpetrator connected the cheery dating app Grindr. Mr Wragg disclosed that the idiosyncratic "had compromising things connected me" and had repeatedly asked him for information.

More MPs, including members of some Conservative and Labour parties, were subsequently barraged with flirty texts by idiosyncratic asserting to beryllium named either "Charlie" oregon "Abi." Parliamentary staffers and journalists besides reported recieving the messages. Speaking astatine the time, Alicia Kearns, erstwhile seat of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said the messages could beryllium the enactment of overseas spies. Tory MP Bob Seely told Newsnight that the crippled was "crude capable to beryllium the Russians," adding that "the Chinese thin to beryllium much sophisticated."