Metropolitan Police officer charged with raping two women 11 days apart

A serving Metropolitan Police officer has appeared in court charged with raping two women 11 days apart.

Pc Rupert Edwards, 29, of Ashstead, Surrey, is alleged to have carried out the rapes in Lambeth, south London, on 26 August and in Epsom, Surrey, on 5 September, while he was off-duty.

Edwards stood and spoke to confirm his personal details when he appeared in the dock at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

The charges relate to two women aged in their 20s and 30s.

He knew one of the women and met the other on the night of the alleged offence, the court heard.

Edwards was ordered to next appear in custody at Inner London Crown Court on 6 January.

Earlier Scotland Yard said the officer, attached to the South West Basic Command Unit, was arrested on suspicion of rape on 5 September, and was bailed and suspended from duty.

On Thursday, he was further arrested on suspicion of rape, before he was charged the following day.

Commander Jon Savell, in charge of the Met’s professionalism command, said: “This news is deeply worrying and I recognise the concern it will cause the public and other police officers.

“We took immediate action to suspend Pc Edwards from duty when he was first arrested in September.

“Legal proceedings are now active and it is important that I do not comment while that process takes place.”

The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards and the Independent Office for Police Conduct have been informed.

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