Michael Lockwood: Former head of police watchdog charged with raping girl

The former head of the police watchdog has been charged with rape and other sexual offences against a girl under the age of 16.

Michael Lockwood, the former director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), has been charged with six counts of indecent assault and three offences of rape, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.

Lockwood, 64, stepped down from his role at the IOPC in December after it emerged he was the subject of a police probe into a historical allegation.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between October 1985 and March 1986.

Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the Special Crime Division at the CPS, said: "After carefully considering all of the evidence provided to us by Humberside Police, we have authorised charges against Michael Lockwood, 64, for nine offences under the Sexual Offences Act 1956.

"Mr Lockwood has been charged with six counts of indecent assault and three offences of rape against a girl under the age of 16, alleged to have been committed during the 1980s."

Lockwood was the first director general appointed to lead the IOPC when it replaced the Independent Police Complaints Commission in 2018.

He is due to appear before magistrates in Hull on Wednesday, 28 June.

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