Who is Michael Lockwood? The former head of the British police watchdog is accused of raping minors in a shocking trial

65-year-old Michael Lockwood, former head of the police supervisory authority, is on trial for allegedly raping and indecently abusing two 14-year-old girls while working as a lifeguard almost 40 years ago.

Lockwood, a former director general of the IOPC, is accused of three rapes and 14 sexual assaults which allegedly took place between 1979 and 1986. The court heard that Lockwood, in his twenties, repeatedly raped one of the girls in a storeroom at a leisure centre near Hull, East Yorkshire. It is also alleged that he dragged another girl into a men’s toilet at the centre, where he kissed and sexually touched her.

Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay KC told the Old Bailey that Lockwood had worked as a lifeguard and fitness instructor at the leisure centre while studying at Hull University, and later as a senior auditor at Humberside County Council. Lockwood eventually became director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the watchdog for complaints against the police in England and Wales.

The first plaintiff, now in her 50s, came forward in 2020. She described Lockwood driving her home in his Ford Capri, kissing her and leading her to a storage room where he attacked her. She believed they were in a relationship and trusted him, the prosecutor said. Lockwood allegedly assaulted and raped her multiple times in the storage room. The plaintiff testified she did not resist because she feared getting in trouble and being banned from the recreation center.

Lockwood denies the allegations, claiming he never had sexual intercourse with anyone at the leisure centre and has no memory of a supply cupboard on the ground floor. He initially denied knowing the first complainant but later said she was obsessed with him.

A second woman, who was also 14 when she met Lockwood, came forward after reading about the allegations in a local newspaper. She described how Lockwood dragged her into a men’s room and later sexually touched her in the same spot. She also claimed he engaged in sexual acts with her in the back seat of his mother’s car when she was 15.

Lockwood, of Epsom, Surrey, denies three counts of rape and six counts of sexual assault relating to the first plaintiff between October 1985 and March 1986. He also pleaded not guilty to eight counts of sexual assault relating to the second plaintiff between August 1979 and August 1981.

The process is still ongoing.