Former KCL student under criminal investigation abroad after complaining about her supervisor

A former King’s College London student is facing a defamation investigation after her complaint to the university was reportedly mishandled. 

The student, who remains anonymous, filed a complaint with the university in April 2025, according to Good Law Project. In this, she accused an academic supervisor of inappropriate behaviour more than two years prior, including the academic giving the student a hard drive containing “sexual content” and “bullying.”

It was reported that King’s took four months to launch the investigation into the student’s case, and a later five months for the student to receive the results, while also refusing a formal order barring her supervisor from contacting her.

However, in February of this year, the student received a summons from authorities in her home country in Europe, after another academic from King’s accused the student of “stalking, libel and slander.” Good Law Project reported that she now faces the possibility of “substantial fines,” or up to five years in prison, as her police investigation is still ongoing.

“When I opened the letter, I was in shock,” the student said. “I never thought this could happen, and felt completely left alone by the university.”

“I still regularly break down crying, I’m facing a huge legal bill, I barely sleep and I am unable to focus during normal office hours.”

A spokesperson from King’s College London said: “King’s College London takes allegations of misconduct extremely seriously. We recognise the impact on those affected and are committed to handling each case sensitively, investigating thoroughly and taking appropriate action as promptly as possible. We have a duty of care to our students and staff and must protect their confidentiality, so we cannot comment on individual cases.”

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In addition, the student was left “astonished” when discovering the details of her case, as well as her full name, were “fully accessible to anyone at King’s,” through calendar invites on the people involved. As well as her details, other student complaints, including names and topics of the complaints logged, were fully accessible on these public calendars. 

In May of this year, after an appeal by the student, King’s accepted “a number of failings” and awarded the student £3,070 in compensation. The compensation covers less than one fifth of the student’s legal fees.

The university spokesperson said: “We take confidentiality and privacy very seriously, and have several important policies and practice in place to uphold this – as well as all calendars being ‘private’ by default, managers are reminded to ensure that any confidential meetings are marked private. 

“This is supported by several HR policies on best practice when working with sensitive information, and by the university’s IT acceptable use policy which all colleagues must agree to which states that individuals who handle personal, confidential, or sensitive information must take all reasonable steps to safeguard it and must be aware of and observe the requirements of the university’s Data Protection Policy and its related procedures.”

If you have been affected by any of the content raised in this article, KCL students can access support by talking to a faculty wellbeing advisor and through King’s Counselling Online (KCO).

You can contact the Samaritans at any time by calling 116 123. Alternatively, you can contact Shout, a 24/7 text messaging service, by texting the word “Shout” to 85258. 

Featured image via Unsplash