Former London police officer from the Couzens unit found guilty of rape

The jury's verdict

A jury at Southwark Crown Court has found Mark Tyrrell guilty, a 57-year-old former Metropolitan Police officer, of one count of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of perverting the course of justice — for attempting to delete messages he had sent to the victim. BBC News reported. He was acquitted on a number of other charges — one further count of rape, four counts of penetration and eight counts of sexual assault.

What the investigation established

According to the prosecution, Tyrrell had sexual contact with a woman, whose identity is protected by law, after she had repeatedly refused him, and then asked her: 'Do you understand that what I have just done is rape?'. Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly KC said that when the woman resisted his advances, he 'simply decided to take what he wanted'. The situation first came to light when officers who came to her home over an unrelated matter found him hiding by her bed. In one message he apologised for being a 'sexual predator' and for 'ruining her life with his presence'. At trial, Tyrrell maintained that the contact had always been consensual and 'without any coercion'. He had previously admitted misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice — for pressuring the woman to lie to police about why he was in her bedroom.

The unit and the police response

Tyrrell, from Meltham (West Yorkshire), served in the Metropolitan Police's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command — the same unit as Wayne Couzens, sentenced to a whole-life term for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021, and David Carrick, a former armed officer who received 36 life sentences for attacks on more than a dozen women. Chief Superintendent Sarah Leach described Tyrrell's behaviour as 'disgusting', stressing that it was particularly outrageous because it was committed by a serving officer who had won the victim's trust, adding that the police 'remain appalled that such a man served in the organisation'. Tyrrell left the police in September 2023 after his arrest and suspension from duty. Sentence in the current case will be passed on 16 December.

Image source, Julia Quenzler