Metropolitan Police officer raped woman at her home after New Year’s Eve party

A Metropolitan Police officer has been sentenced to seven years in prison for raping a woman after a New Year’s Eve party.

Rupert Edwards, 33, raped a female police officer at her home while he was off-duty.

Southwark Crown Court heard on Friday that the woman had too much to drink as midnight approached and fell asleep on the sofa.

Prosecutor John Clifford said he later woke up to discover he was covered in chocolates, which other attendees tried to shove into his mouth.

Edwards, a serving officer, had heard of the party in London and arrived after midnight, when there were fireworks.

The victim had very vague memories but remembered getting into a taxi with the defendant and thought it was strange that the defendant did not get out of the vehicle before her.

The court heard Edwards directed an Uber to his home to go to the victim’s location.

The prosecutor said the next thing she remembered was waking up in her bed next to the defendant, where they were both naked.

The court heard Edwards, who was wearing a white shirt and dark suit in the dock, later made a vulgar remark about the fact they had sex and was “disgusted” because the victim had never consented to sexual intercourse and would never do so, the court heard.

He then sent the victim a message requesting another sexual encounter.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said she felt “emotionally numb” following the attack.

“I felt emotionally numb, as if there was a black spot over everything,” he said.

“Even though I wasn’t suicidal, I often felt attracted to the idea of ​​not waking up the next day.”

He added: “A conviction does not bring closure to me. I will continue to suffer the effects of his actions.”

The victim contacted police in October 2023 to report the incident on New Year’s Day in January 2018.

The Metropolitan Police said an investigation began and Edwards was arrested in April 2024 and charged with rape the following March.

Edwards, who was a police officer for more than eight years before being suspended from duty in 2022, was found guilty of one count of rape following a hearing on May 22.

The court heard that Edwards, who lives in Bexhill, East Sussex, had previously been tried on charges of raping two women, but was acquitted of raping one of them at the first trial, and was acquitted of raping the other after a retrial.

Sentencing him, Judge Nicholas Rimmer said: “She (the victim) knew nothing of what had happened until you made it clear that you had sex with her the next morning.”

He said the crime took place in the victim’s home, “which was supposed to be a safe haven.”

Edwards, who was 24 when he raped the woman, failed to respond to a seven-year prison sentence and was the subject of a restraining order banning him from contacting the victim or going to an address where the woman could be found.

The defendant smiled at his family in the gallery before being taken away by the dock attendant.

Timothy Greaves, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Rupert Edwards assaulted and took advantage of a woman. Despite claiming it was consensual, the evidence clearly showed it was rape.”

“We recognize that it can be difficult to report these crimes and I would like to thank the victim for coming forward. I hope today’s sentence brings some relief to all the women affected by Edwards’ actions. “Thanks to their evidence, Edwards has been brought to justice.

“Where the law allows us to present evidence to a jury that reveals the defendant’s pattern of conduct, we will take every opportunity to do so. That is exactly what we did here, and it played a central role in securing this conviction.”