A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with allegedly raping two women in south London and Surrey earlier this year, the force said.
PC Rupert Edwards, attached to the South West basic command unit, was arrested on suspicion on rape on 5 September and he was then bailed and suspended from duty.
Three days later, on 8 December, he was further arrested on suspicion of rape. He has now been charged with two counts relating to two women aged in their 20s and 30s.
Commander Jon Savelle, 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.”
The alleged offences occured in Lambeth on 26 August and in Surrey on 5 September, while the officer was off-duty.
In October, an interim report into the standards and internal culture of the Metropolitan Police found that officers with repeated patterns of unacceptable behaviour are often not identified or disciplined.
Baroness Casey, who carried out the report, said that the Met must take a “zero-tolerance” approach to misogyny and racism.
The Met’s commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has called for greater powers to sack officers. He said that more than 500 of his officers were suspended or on restricted duties due to misconduct investigations.
