Beverley Allitt, a nurse, kills 4 children in her care. Do we say we can no longer trust any nurse?
Harold Shipman, a doctor, is convicted of murdering 15 of his patients and may have killed as many as 250 - the worst serial killer in modern history. Do we say we can no longer trust any doctor?
A police officer commits a terrible crime and the clamour of the media is that none of the nation’s 130,000 police officers can now be trusted.
Undoubtedly the Met missed opportunities to detect the lethal flaws in his character and there are questions about the failings in police leadership (and it almost always comes down to that) but the serving men and women on the front line of policing are by the great majority truly heroic individuals making exceptional personal sacrifices for their communities.
It destroys them to be constantly tarred with a brush they don’t deserve.