Former Metropolitan Police officer Mark Tyrrell has been found guilty of sexual offences against a woman he met through his work as a police officer. A jury at Southwark Crown Court convicted him of one count of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of perverting the course of justice, while acquitting him on 13 other charges, including one count of rape.
The court heard that Tyrrell raped the woman by having sex with her after she had repeatedly said no. Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly KC stated that the woman had resisted his sexual advances and that he had simply decided to take what he wanted. The woman cannot be identified for legal reasons. Tyrrell allegedly told the woman: "I don't believe what's just happened" and "do you realise that what I've just done, that was rape?"
Tyrrell was 57 and attached to the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, the same unit in which Wayne Couzens and David Carrick, convicted rapists, worked. In his testimony, he claimed that the sexual intercourse between them was always consensual and that there was no coercion. The court also heard that concerns were raised after officers attended her address for another matter and found Tyrrell hiding beside her bed.
Tyrrell had previously pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office, as well as perverting the course of justice by encouraging the woman to lie to police about why he was in her bedroom. He was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice by attempting to delete messages with the woman. In one message, he told her he was sorry for being a sex offender and for destroying her life by being in it.
Ch Supt Sara Leach, commander of Specialist Operations, stated that such behaviour was abhorrent, but even more so when carried out by a serving officer who had gained the victim's trust. She added that others were appalled that such a person had served in their organisation and that it was right he was brought to justice. Tyrrell is from Meltham in West Yorkshire, and his sentence will be passed on 16 December.
Sarah Everard, 33, was abducted, raped and killed by then-Met officer Wayne Couzens in 2021, after which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. David Carrick, 51, previously served as an armed officer in the Met and is serving 37 life sentences after assaulting more than a dozen women.
