Woman claims Met officer raped her; tearful police interrogation before jury

A woman burst into tears as she claimed she was raped by a serving Metropolitan Police officer, according to video evidence played in court.

Suspended PC Rupert Edwards, 30, is alleged to have raped a woman in Epsom, Surrey, on August 26, 2022, and in Lambeth, south London, on September 5, 2022.

Edwards, of Ashtead, Surrey, denies assaulting the plaintiffs, who are in their twenties and thirties, and is on trial at Inner London Crown Court.

He met the two women in bars in the evening and then went to their home, where they first had consensual sex before he allegedly raped them, the court said.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the jury was shown a video of a police interview given by the first plaintiff in December 2022.

Prosecutors allege that she had consensual sex with Edwards in her apartment and then said she was too tired to continue, at which point he pulled her leg up and initiated further intercourse.

In the footage shown on Wednesday, she can be seen dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief and crying.

In his opening statement on Tuesday, prosecutor Robert Brown said she had consensual sex with Edwards “at least once, possibly twice,” but during police questioning she suggested it was “two or three times.”

She said she could not remember details about the third possible time: “These are things that one probably does not need to remember.”

She added: “What upsets me is what was going through my mind at the time when I said to myself: I’m being raped, why don’t I do something about it?”

All I know is that there was one occasion where I did not consent and I said these words

Complainant

She said she did not know how long the non-consensual sex lasted or how it ended, adding: “I just lay there and waited for it to be over.”

She said she had drunk six or seven cocktails earlier in the evening, which left her feeling drunk, and switched to water towards the end of the evening before taking a taxi home with Edwards, the court heard.

During cross-examination, she said that Edwards was also “drunk” that night, but “was not unsteady on his feet and was able to hold a conversation.”

During police questioning, she said: “I was still drunk, but also quite tired and overtired, which obviously had a negative effect on my memory.”

Describing the rape, she said: “It was neither violent nor cruel, it was just like that: I said I didn’t want to do it anymore and he didn’t listen to me.”

She said she initially tried to “forget” it, but later confided in a friend who reported it to the police.

When asked how Edwards reacted when she withdrew her consent, she said: “He didn’t say anything, but realistically it’s impossible that he didn’t hear me because I said it clearly, I didn’t whisper it and he was right next to me.”

Regarding her feelings during her first consensual sex, she said, “I mean, I enjoyed it. At that point, he didn’t do anything that I wasn’t comfortable with.”

The jury was shown a video of the women being cross-examined in the same court on July 14.

Defence lawyer Ailsa Williamson asked whether there were “three occasions on which you had consensual sexual intercourse and then a fourth occasion which you say was not consensual? Or are you not aware of how many occasions there were?”

The woman said: “All I know is that there was one incident where I did not consent and said those words.”

Ms Williamson later added: “In your opinion, is what you describe (the alleged rape) the fourth or third time that sexual intercourse occurred?”

The woman said, “I just can’t remember.”

So you’re saying that he simply forced you to have sex even though you didn’t want to, you didn’t tell him about it and (afterwards) you just fell asleep in the same bed?

Ailsa Williamson, Defence Counsel

Ms Williamson said: “Do you agree that you did not do or say anything that would have suggested that you would not have consented to a third sexual intercourse?”

The woman claimed she told Edwards, “I can’t do it again,” before he had sex with her anyway, but then she “froze” and did nothing to stop him.

Ms Williamson added: ‘So you’re saying he just forced you to have sex when you didn’t want to, you didn’t tell him and you just fell asleep in the same bed?

“That’s not right, is it? You had consensual sex a third time and then both fell asleep until about noon, right?”

Ms Williamson said that when Edwards left the woman’s house at lunchtime the next day, it was “a perfectly amicable farewell” and the woman agreed.

Ms Williamson added: “Isn’t that because you both agreed to everything that happened between you? Do you agree or not?”

The woman said, “No, I don’t agree.”

The process continues.