Overview
- PC Rupert Edwards was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, May 22, 2026, of raping a woman after a New Year’s Eve party on 1 January 2018.
- The prosecution introduced parts of two 2022 cases, including recorded interviews and cross-examination material, which a judge allowed to show similarities in Edwards’s behaviour.
- The original 2018 allegation was reported in October 2023, Edwards was arrested on 29 April 2024 and charged with rape on 12 March 2025, and sentencing is set for 10 July 2026.
- Disciplinary proceedings that were paused during the criminal case have resumed and the Met will pursue an accelerated misconduct hearing that aims to recommend his dismissal.
- The Met says specialist officers are supporting the victim and those involved in earlier cases and frames the conviction as part of wider efforts to raise standards after more than 1,500 officers left and 200 professionalism staff were added.