Michael Lockwood, former director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), has been found not guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey of sexually abusing two 14-year-old girls almost 40 years ago. The girls, who are now in their 50s, had accused Lockwood of molesting and raping them when he was working part-time at a leisure centre near Hull in his 20s. All 17 charges related to the women were rejected by the jury. Lockwood resigned from his role as head of the police watchdog in December 2022 after the allegations came to light.
The allegations included claims that Lockwood repeatedly raped and indecently assaulted a girl in a storeroom at the leisure centre where he worked as a lifeguard in the 1980s. Following reports about these allegations, another woman came forward claiming that he had touched her indecently in a male restroom and storeroom at the centre. Lockwood was accused of three rapes and six indecent assaults on the first complainant, and eight indecent assaults on the second.
While the second complainant admitted that she had a relationship with Lockwood, he claimed that nothing sexual happened until she had turned 16. Lockwood further denied any sexual activity with the first complainant, arguing that she must have mistaken him for another lifeguard she saw on TV. The first complainant said she had believed she was in a “proper relationship” when he first kissed her. The case went on for nearly 10 hours, and Lockwood was eventually found not guilty.
Before the allegations surfaced, Lockwood had been frequently interviewed for his views on police issues, including during the murder of Sarah Everard by a Metropolitan Police officer and riots that occurred after the fatal police shooting of Chris Kaba in London. Today, he is free to go back to his usual activities, after the controversial trial finally cleared him of sexual abuse
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