The Met Police has admitted ‘victim-blaming’ after a vulnerable woman who was groomed by an officer from the same unit as Wayne Couzens said she was told ‘sexual predators only exist in the minds of Mail readers’.Lorraine, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was groomed by former officer Phil Hunter before the force wrote to her GP and suggested she had ‘fabricated’ the allegations she reported.She first came into contact with Hunter, now 60, after reporting alleged stalking and harassment at the hands of an ex-partner, when the cop attended her address to conduct a welfare check in 2017.Two months ago, Hunter was found to have committed gross misconduct after pursuing an inappropriate relationship for a sexual purpose with Lorraine.The hearing was told the disgraced officer was a ‘sexual predator’ who abused his position in the police.It brought to some conclusion an ordeal Lorraine first reported in 2019.Now the force has issued a statement apologising for a culture of victim-blaming which led officers to focus on the credibility of victims, not perpetrators. MailOnline has put all of Lorraine’s claims to the Met.The Met’s head of professionalism Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said: ‘Too often in the past we have victim-blamed and we have looked to check the credibility of victims, rather than focusing on the behaviour of the suspects.’It’s absolutely our focus now to make sure that women and girls… can believe that we are taking it very seriously.’ Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor (pictured) admitted the Met had previously ‘victim-blamed’ and looked into the credibility of victims rather than suspects Lorraine, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was groomed by former officer Phil Hunter before his colleagues repeatedly tried to discredit her by writing to her GP and claiming she had ‘fabricated’ the crimes she reported Lorraine’s ordeal began when Hunter was sent to her home to conduct a welfare check in 2017. He gave her his personal number and encouraged her to reach out to him.Over the next two years, he sent Lorraine dozens of sexual text messages and called her late at night, while failing to mention he had been suspended by the force.Lorraine continued to report incidents of alleged harassment to Hunter, who she says isolated her from friends and family and told her only he could ensure that her claims would be investigated. When Lorraine managed to report Hunter’s behaviour towards her, she said Met officers told her that sexual predator police officers ‘only exist in the minds of NEWSWALLA readers’.MailOnline can now reveal that shortly after she lodged a complaint about Hunter, the Met began contacting her GP and requested intimate details of her health records, as well as telling the practice Lorraine ‘may well be suffering from mental health issues’.A letter sent by a nurse working for the Met to her GP stated she should be seen ‘urgently’, accusing her of ‘fabricating’ crimes she reported to the force.A forensic mental health nurse seconded to the Met told the practice there were ‘concerns’ about Lorraine’s allegations and suggested ‘she has fabricated these stories herself’.In the letter – which was littered with typos – she also said she was of the view Lorraine’s reports to police were ‘related to a decline in her mental health’ and that there were doubts about her ‘credibility’ as a victim.  One of several emails to Lorraine’s GP practice from the Met said she ‘may well be suffering with mental health issues’ Hunter worker in the Diplomatic and Parliamentary Protection unit, the same  unit as Wayne Couzens (pictured), who abducted, raped and killed Sarah EverardThe nurse asked whether Lorraine had a mental health diagnosis, whether she was on any prescribed medications and whether she had a history with secondary mental health services – which include hospital admission and crisis teams.Lorraine’s GP surgery declined to reply to the letter because it was aware of her ongoing case against Hunter.The Met then conducted a Merlin – or welfare – report, claiming her allegations were inaccurate and could be an ‘intentional misrepresentation’.The report, requested by Commander Catherine Roper – now Chief Constable at Wiltshire Police – added she had a ‘misguided perception of inappropriate contact by an ex-MPS officer [Hunter]’ and claimed she was in a ‘mental health crisis’. Lorraine had no history of mental health issues.’It still impacts me,’ Lorraine told MailOnline. ‘It’s hard to quantify how stressful this has been.’When I found out officers had written to my GP, I was shocked and horrified.’In this whole process, I have got no justice. There is no closure for me. I thought the hearing would be the end, but they won’t let me go. I can’t even begin to heal.’There are still people in my life who won’t talk to me because they believed the police, that I had made it all up.’ In a Merlin reported ordered by Commander Catherine Roper (pictured), officers claimed Lorraine had a ‘misguided perception’ of her contact with HunterHunter resigned from the Met before he could be fired. He was initially granted a black cab licence – but this was withdrawn after the extent of his actions became clear.The Met has now admitted it should have investigated Hunter’s actions towards Lorraine as early as 2018. Instead, she had to wait another six years until a misconduct hearing found in her favour – only concluding on August 2 – and further IOPC rulings are still pending, with no estimated conclusion date.After the hearing in August, Commander Katie Lilburn of Professional Standards wrote to Lorraine offering an ‘unreserved apology’ for the behaviour of Hunter.She said: ‘I am truly sorry that a serving MPS officer so audaciously and improperly overstepped professional boundaries in providing his personal number and contacting you outside of a policing purpose. ‘Furthermore, I want to acknowledge the compounded harm caused by FPC Hunter’s actions being motivated for a sexual purpose especially when it was clear that you were vulnerable. ‘In the wake of the horrendous crimes of FPCs [former police officers], I do not underestimate how traumatising and impactful the actions of FPC Hunter must be. ‘I also want to acknowledge the additional distress caused by the fact that this was a pattern of behaviour by FPC Hunter and he had contacted another lady (Ms X) in a similar situation and therefore the predatory sexualised behaviour should have been connected much earlier by the Directorate of Professional Standards. I am so sorry for this failing.’ A misconduct hearing in August found Hunter committed gross misconduct by pursuing an inappropriate relationship with LorraineCommander Lilburn added: ‘It is my conclusion that our primary failing has been in not joining the connections between the nature of the contact FPC Hunter had with you and that he also had with Ms X which both occurred at around the same time in 2017. ‘I agree with you that these facts were known to the MPS in 2018 and it was reasonable for the connections to have been made and a joint investigation to have been conducted into the pattern of behaviour.’She admitted: ‘Before the awful crimes of Couzens were fully exposed and reported upon – it is a candid reality that the risk of police perpetrated Domestic Abuse and Sexual Offending did not have the focus and spotlight that it does now.’The letter also praised Lorraine’s ‘positive legacy’ and ‘persistence and tenacity’ in pursuing the case against Hunter.In relation to the letters to Lorraine’s GP and the Merlin report, the Met told MailOnline: ‘A complaint made relating to the way information was passed on was assessed by DPS and concluded no further action should be taken. The decision was appealed to the IOPC, who found the original decision should stand.’A spokesperson added they were unable to comment specifically on requests for Lorraine’s medical records due to an ongoing investigation by the DPS [Department of Professional Standards].