Rupert Edwards, of Bexhill, East Sussex, previously faced trial charged with rape of two other women but was acquitted, Southwark Crown Court heard
A Metropolitan Police officer who raped a woman in her home after a New Year’s Eve party has been jailed.
Rupert Edwards, 33, was a serving Metropolitan Police officer at the time of the rape, which took place while he was off duty. The victim fell asleep on a sofa after drinking heavily as midnight approached, prosecutor John Clifford told Southwark Crown Court today.
The woman then woke up covered in chocolates that others at the party had been trying to throw in her mouth. Edwards attended the party in London after midnight, the court heard.
The victim had only vague recollections of the night, but remembered sharing a taxi with Edwards and thinking it was strange he had not got out before her. The court heard he had diverted the Uber from his own home to the victim’s address.
The next thing the woman remembered was waking up next to the officer in her bed, with both of them naked. Edwards then made a crass remark about the fact they had had sex, with the victim feeling “disgusted”.
The court heard she had never consented to sexual intercourse and would never have done so. Edwards later asked the victim over text for another sexual encounter.
In her victim impact statement, read to the court, the woman said she felt “emotionally numb” after the attack. She said: “I felt emotionally numb, as if there was a black spot over everything.
“While I was not suicidal, I often felt that the idea of not waking up the next day was appealing. A conviction does not bring me closure. I will continue to live with the effects of what he has done.”
Edwards, of Bexhill, East Sussex, has now been jailed for seven years. The victim contacted the police about the rape in October 2023, with the incident taking place on New Year’s Day in January 2018.
An investigation began and Edwards was arrested in April 2024, the Metropolitan Police said, and he was charged with rape the following March. Edwards, who had been a police officer for more than eight years before he was suspended in 2022, was found guilty on May 22 of one count of rape following a trial.
The court heard Edwards previously faced trial charged with rape of two other women but was acquitted of raping one in a first trial, and acquitted of the rape of the other following a retrial. Sentencing him, Judge Nicholas Rimmer said: “She [the victim] knew nothing of what had happened until you made clear that you had had sex with her the following morning.”
He said the offending took place at the victim’s home which “ought to have been her sanctuary”. Edwards, who was 24 when he raped the woman, did not react as he was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and made the subject of a restraining order banning him from contacting the victim or going to an address where she may be present.
Before he was taken away by a dock officer, the defendant smiled to his family, who were in the public gallery. Timothy Greaves, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Rupert Edwards preyed on a woman and took advantage of her.
“Despite his claims that this was consensual, the evidence clearly showed that it was rape. We recognise that it can be difficult to report these offences and I want to thank the victim for coming forward.
“I hope today’s sentence brings some comfort to all of the women affected by Edwards’ conduct. It is because of their evidence that he has been brought to justice.
“Where the law allows us to place evidence before a jury that reveals a defendant’s pattern of behaviour, we will pursue every opportunity to do so. That is exactly what we did here, and it was central to securing this conviction.”
