Met Police officer Rupert Edwards did not listen, court hears

Metropolitan Police officer Rupert Edwards denies two counts of rape

Jurors hearing the trial of a Met Police officer charged with rape have been played video footage of a woman saying he did not listen when she said no.

Rupert Edwards, 30, is alleged to have raped one woman in Epsom, Surrey, in August 2022 and the other in Lambeth, south London, in September last year.

At Inner London Crown Court, the suspended officer denied both charges.

Jurors heard they both initially engaged in consensual sex with him.

Footage of one of the women being questioned on 14 July was played to the jury.

She said she did not know how many times they had sex, but added: "All I know is that there was one occasion where I did not consent and I said those words."

The woman said she told Mr Edwards "I can't go again" before he proceeded to have intercourse with her anyway, the court heard.

She said she then "froze" and did nothing further to stop him.

Ailsa Williamson, defending, said when Mr Edwards, from Ashtead, Surrey, left the woman's home at noon the next day "it was a perfectly amicable parting", and the woman agreed.

Ms Williamson added: "Isn't that because you had both agreed to everything that had taken place between you, do you agree or not?"

The woman said: "I don't agree, no."

'He didn't listen'

The court was also shown a video of a police interview with the first complainant in December 2022.

In it, she said: "The thing that's upsetting me is what was going through my head at the time when I was just saying to myself, 'I'm being raped, why aren't I doing anything about it?'"

She said she did not know how long the non-consensual sex went on for, adding: "I just laid there and waited for it to end."

She said she had six or seven cocktails earlier in the night, which made her feel drunk, then switched to drinking water by end of the night before taking a cab home with Mr Edwards, the court heard.

During cross examination, she said Mr Edwards was also "drunk" on the night but "wasn't unstable on his feet, he could hold a conversation".

Describing the rape, she said: "It wasn't violent or savage, it was just the case of I said I don't want to any more, he didn't listen."

Asked how Mr Edwards reacted when she withdrew consent, she said: "He didn't say anything but, realistically, there is no way he couldn't have heard me because I said it clearly, I didn't whisper it, and he was right next to me."

On how she felt the first time they had consensual sex, she said: "I mean, I enjoyed it. At that point he didn't do anything that I wasn't comfortable with."

She said she initially tried to "forget about it" but later confided in a friend who reported it to the police.

The trial continues.

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