A Metropolitan Police officer has been jailed for seven years after raping a woman following a New Year’s Eve party.
Rupert Edwards, 33, was off-duty when he raped a female police officer at her home.
Southwark Crown Court heard on Friday that the woman had been drinking heavily as midnight approached and fell asleep on the sofa.
Prosecutor John Clifford explained that she later woke to discover she was covered in chocolates, which other attendees had been trying to throw into her mouth.
Edwards, who was a serving officer, had heard about the party in London and arrived after midnight when there had been fireworks.
The victim had very vague recollections but remembered a taxi ride with the defendant and recalled thinking it was strange he had not left the vehicle before her.
Edwards had diverted an Uber to his own home to go to the victim’s instead, the court heard.
The next thing she remembered was waking up next to the defendant in her bed where they were both naked, the prosecutor said.
Edwards, who wore a white shirt and dark suit in the dock, then made a crass remark about the fact they had had sex, and the victim was “disgusted” as she had never consented to sexual intercourse and would never have done so, the court heard.
He later sent the victim a text asking for another sexual encounter.
In her victim impact statement, read to the court, the woman said she felt “emotionally numb” after the attack.
“I felt emotionally numb, as if there was a black spot over everything,” she said.
“While I was not suicidal, I often felt that the idea of not waking up the next day was appealing.”
She added: “A conviction does not bring me closure. I will continue to live with the effects of what he has done.”
The victim contacted police in October 2023 to report the incident 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, of Bexhill, East Sussex, 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.
The defendant smiled to his family who were in the public gallery before he was taken away by a dock officer.
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.”
