The head of the IOPC has been charged with raping a girl under 16

[Clymene]

Michael Lockwood.

Fucking hell, the police are riddled with these allegedly rapey men

Post edited by MNHQ

Aren't they just. Vile abuse of power.

news.sky.com/story/ex-police-watchdog-chief-michael-lockwood-charged-with-raping-girl-under-16-and-indecent-assault-12903509

Nine counts. Historic offences so he was in multiple positions of power

Rotten to the very core.

And co chair of Grenfell Memorial Commission. All those people who trusted him and thought him a decent person.

I can't even express how angry this makes me

I'm not even surprised anymore. Horrific.

ACAB.

I disagree

As N.W.A. once said….

Fuck Da Police 🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻

How much evidence can there be though from 40 years ago? I guess they feel there's enough to charge him though 🤷‍♀️

He was never a police officer as far as i can see - he was part of the independent body looking at police conduct, a civilian.

Yes he is not a former police officer. He worked in local government before the IOPC.

The IOPC is not made up of Police Officers.

No he was never a police officer. He was in charge of the office for investigating complaints against the police. A alleged rapist in charge of investigating rapists.

Post edited by MNHQ

Nor me - which is really worrying. It just seems like 'yet another one'.

The fire service misogyny/abuse scandal was investigated by the police, who are watched by these rapists. How reassuring for women.

How do they get these positions of trust
I’m appalled and sickened

presumably no one knew about this allegation and he never mentioned anything when he went for the jobs

Hi OP, ever heard of "innocent until proven guilty"?

Right now, shock horror, there are probably hundreds of people in police custody in the UK, they are entirely innocent and will NEVER be charged with an offence. They have been arrested on suspicion of something or other, but that doesn't mean anything.

Being charged with an offence simply means that the CPS have reviewed the evidence and decided that there is a likelihood of a guilty verdict. Otherwise they wouldn't prep for trial.

Please remember though, and this is THE reason that rape convictions are so low. The CPS will authorise a charge in respect of a sexual offence on the basis of "a convincing narrative". Unlike virtually all other offences in England and Wales, where you would have to evidence either reasonable doubt or the ballance of probability, this means that the alleged victim only has to say it happened, and if the complaint sounds plausible, irrespective of ANY physical evidence, the CPS will authorise charge. Also the accused will be publicly named, which doesn't happen with other offences. In essence, I could say for example a teacher sexually assaulted me 20 years ago by touching my breast in a classroom. All the CPS would consider before authorising charge is that the teacher in question did teach me, that I could have been one of their classes, and that the opportunity could have arisen for them to assault me. However, I wouldn't have to, nor would I be expected to provide any physical evidence what so ever in relation to the offence. Nevertheless, we expect a jury to convict someone without any evidence, for an alleged crime that happened decades ago, all on the unsubstantiated story of someone who said it in fact did happen.

Can you see why most rape cases collapse?

At trial, the jury have to consider what is essentially a "she said, he said" situation, they invariably imagine themselves or that family member being accused with no evidence and conclude that the case can't be proved. Hence the low conviction rate.

Please refrain from finding the accused guilty without hearing a shred of the evidence relating to the case.

onefinemess

Well written.

And it adds to why the conviction rate for rape is so low especially when you add into this the fact that a lot of rape victims/survivors don't want to go through the court process.

@onefinemess...

'The stereotype of the "common" false allegation and the rape myths that contribute to incorrect beliefs about sexual assault, have negative consequences for victims and society in general, in that a willingness to report sexual assault is hampered for fear of being disbelieved or of being blamed for the sexual assault.'

https://aifs.gov.au/resources/practice-guides/true-or-false-contested-terrain-false-allegations

'Almost no one is falsely accused of rape. ' https://www.thecut.com/article/false-rape-accusations.html

'The distressing truth is that if you are raped in Britain today, your chances of seeing justice are slim.'
https://victimscommissioner.org.uk/news/the-distressing-truth-is-that-if-you-are-raped-in-britain-today-your-chances-of-seeing-justice-are-slim/

We cannot reliably count what is not reported but there are estimates that less than 10% of rapes are reported.

The highest ever number of rapes within a 12-month period was recorded by police in England and Wales in the year ending September 2022 was 70,633. In that same time period, charges were brought in just 2,616 rape cases.
https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/statistics-sexual-violence/

The jury conviction rate for all sexual offences has also increased over the last 15 years, steadily rising from 58% in 2007 to 75% in 2021.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/feb/juries-convict-defendants-rape-more-often-acquit#:~:text=The%20research%20forms%20part%20of,2007%20to%2075%25%20in%202021.

Some where between 0.3% and 3% of rape cases are prosecuted, but of these, 75% are convicted. Charges have been brought in this case. We cannot conclude that this person is guilty, but we can conclude that this case has overcome huge barriers and hurdles to reach this stage.

Wow you've made that sound so simple... poor men. Not how it's been at all In my case.
To break it down because I can't be fucked with this bullshit any longer. I walk in to a police station. Covered in bruises and evidence (I'll let you use your imagination) and tell my side. A rapist is questioned (not arrested just questioned for some bizarre reason but whatever) All he has to say for himself is'She likes it rough.. that's why she looks like she's been assaulted'!
Case fucking closed! The police couldn't have given less of a shit and today I find out the man in charge of holding them accountable is also a sex offender! But your right its probably a misunderstanding.
Except it happens all the time!! Stop pretending it doesn't!!

Thank you @ChateauMargaux

As I said in the title, he has been charged. With three counts of rape and 6 counts of indecent assault.

The bar for the CPS to bring charges is incredibly high.

There are far more rapes than ever get reported

I'm with you, @schnauzerbeard .

And he was the watchdog!!!

We have no hope

To be fair - and I am not defending Lockwood in the least - the offences took place in 1985 and 1986. In other words, when Lockwood was 25 / 26 years old - not at a time when he held any kind of office.