Ex-Met Police inspector lied about wife's death in Barbados hotel room, BBC learns

- Published Warning: Contains graphic details of Rebekah Arter's death - and references to coercion and sexual abuse A former Metropolitan Police detective, investigated for sexually exploiting vulnerable crime victims it was his job to protect, later lied about the death of his wife in a Barbados hotel room, BBC Panorama has learned. asserted

Warren Arter first met his wife Rebekah after she reported domestic abuse to the Met. asserted

He then abused her for more than a decade. asserted

Her death two years ago has never been properly investigated. asserted

Panorama can reveal failures by Barbados authorities to preserve evidence and interview hotel staff about Arter's suspicious behaviour before and after Rebekah's death, aged 47. asserted

Despite a request from her family for assistance, the Met did not send detectives to the Caribbean island. asserted

The Met told the BBC it took this decision because no allegation of criminality had been made. asserted

Rebekah's family, speaking publicly for the first time, have told Panorama the Met failed her. asserted

The cause of her death is still not known with a coroner in the UK recording an open verdict. asserted

We have also spoken to hotel staff who were called to the room in June 2024 after Arter rang reception to say his wife had collapsed. asserted

Interviews with the staff, police sources - plus Arter's erratic communications following Rebekah's death - reveal: Arter gave conflicting accounts - telling staff and Rebekah's family she had choked, fallen and banged her head, or he had woken up and found her dead Evidence was not secured, vital forensic tests were not taken and Rebekah's organs were inexplicably "chopped up" by a pathologist in Barbados Four days after Rebekah's death, a senior Met boss from its Gold Command was briefed about the incident in light of Arter's alleged offending - but it did not lead to officers travelling to the Caribbean island Arter, 54, took his own life in HMP Wandsworth, days after he had returned from Barbados and been arrested for allegedly abusing another woman. Rebekah had been escaping an abusive relationship when Arter investigated her case in 2006. uncertain

The detective then pursued a relationship with her and moved in not long after. asserted

Three years later, he was placed in charge of a unit in south-east London investigating rape cases. asserted

Arter was later suspended by the Met and investigated over his conduct towards eight alleged victims by its watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) - but was never convicted. asserted

Over the seven years he was suspended, Arter continued to receive his full detective inspector salary, before being dismissed in 2023 for drug offences. asserted

All this time, he subjected Rebekah to sexual and domestic abuse, coercive control, and drugging, which the BBC has seen video evidence of. asserted

Panorama has now spoken to several members of staff who were working at the luxury O2 Beach Club in Barbados on the night of Rebekah's death. asserted

All say Arter behaved suspiciously. asserted

Two of them entered Arter's hotel room after he had called to say his wife was unwell. asserted

Both say it was immediately clear Rebekah was dead. asserted

Andrew, a security guard, says he had to prevent Arter from going to a nearby street party, before emergency services arrived. " asserted

So I'm asking him, why do you need to go when you have a bigger issue here?" asserted

Andrew says Arter responded: "Oh, I just need to clear my head." Watch Panorama: The Predator in the Police on BBC iPlayer from 0600 on Tuesday 17 November - or on BBC One at 21:00 that evening (not in Wales and Northern Ireland) asserted

Arter then began crying "crocodile tears" and conducting performative CPR despite Rebekah's lips being blue, according to Andrew, who says Arter's explanation of what happened kept changing. uncertain

Initially, Arter told Andrew she had fallen near a chest of drawers - but her body was some distance away, near the kitchen. asserted

When police arrived, Andrew says he heard Arter tell them he had found her like that. asserted

There was no sign of Rebekah having a head injury, Andrew says, despite bloodstains on the bed, the wall and the living room area. asserted

Arter recorded a video of the room and sent it to family and friends in the UK. "It looks like chocolate but it's blood," he can be heard saying. asserted

Andrew says he told Arter to phone family in the UK - and then heard him tell them that she had been unwell. asserted

"He was just trying to find the right story that fits and none of them added up," says Andrew. asserted

The security guard says he told Barbadian police officers what he saw and gave a statement but was never formally interviewed. asserted

Panorama has seen some of Arter's messages and spoken to Rebekah's friends and family who were contacted by him shortly after her death. asserted

They reveal that Arter provided other possible causes of death - that Rebekah had "choked" or that her drink had been spiked. asserted

These accounts are contradicted by Rebekah's daughter-in-law, Lacey, who says he told her they had both been asleep for 18 hours and he had woken up and found her dead. asserted

"He was outright lying. asserted

He was forgetting what he was telling people," says Lacey. asserted

Arter was briefly detained by Barbadian police but released a short time later. asserted

One of the police officers who attended the room that night refused to share information with Panorama without payment. asserted

He still had a photograph of Rebekah's dead body on his phone. asserted

Police in Barbados did not respond to our request for comment. asserted