Met Police officer cleared of raping woman he met at a bar

Met Police officer Rupert Edwards

A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been found not guilty of raping a woman he met at a bar while off duty.

PC Rupert Edwards was cleared of attacking the woman in Epsom, Surrey, on 26 August 2022.

The jury was unable to return a verdict on a second count of rape, relating to a different woman in Lambeth, south London, on 5 September 2022.

The 30-year-old from Ashtead, Surrey, wept at Inner London Crown Court as the jury's verdict was returned.

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In a prepared statement given to police, Mr Edwards said all sexual activity with the first woman was consensual and at no point did she indicate that she was not consenting, the court previously heard.

The jury was told that she met Mr Edwards on a night out, where they danced and kissed at a bar.

They took a taxi to her home, where they had consensual sex "at least once, possibly twice", the court heard.

The prosecution alleged that Mr Edwards initiated further sexual intercourse against the woman's wishes, to which Mr Edwards said: "I do not agree with that".

The second woman told the trial they had engaged in consensual sexual activity in Lambeth, south London, but that she had "told him from the outset there could be no intercourse" because they did not have any condoms.

The woman said Mr Edwards agreed to this but she was later awoken when he raped her, prosecutors said.

When pressed by the prosecution, the suspended PC said: "At no point was she asleep [during sex]."

He told the court that they had been a "similar level of drunk" and that he was "shocked and surprised" to be arrested the next morning.

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