Serving senior Met firearms officer arrested 'in front of shocked colleagues' on suspicion of rape

A senior serving armed Met police officer has been arrested on suspicion of rape .

The inspector, who has not been named, has been suspended pending the criminal inquiry.

He was taken into custody in front of colleagues at a firearms training base on Kent, according to The Sun.

A Met Police spokesman said he was held on suspicion of rape and other offences alleged to have been committed over a ten-year period.

The veteran officer, who is reportedly close to retirement, was bailed until September pending further inquiries.

A Met spokesperson said: “A serving Met officer has been arrested on suspicion of rape and other offences.

“The officer, an inspector in the Met’s Specialist Firearms Command, was arrested on Monday, 24 June.

“The offences are alleged to have taken place between 2013 and 2023.

“He was bailed to return in mid-September, pending further enquiries.

“He has been suspended from duty.”

A source told the Sun that the officer was arrested at a base in Gravesend.

He said: “It sent shock waves through the base as he is a big cheese in the firearms unit.”

The officer is a member of the Met’s MO19 firearms command unit, which operates gun cover across London and is deployed to deal with terrorist incidents.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct were informed by the Met about the arrest of the officer as a matter of course.

An IOPC spokesperson said: “We received a mandatory conduct referral from the Metropolitan Police Service on 26 June 2024 following the arrest earlier that week of a Met officer on suspicion of multiple offences.

“After carefully considering the referral we decided, given the officer has already been arrested and interviewed by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, that the Met should continue with its investigation .”

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