Former police watchdog chief found not guilty of raping and molesting two 14-year-old girls
23 July 2024, 15:22
The former police watchdog chief has been found not guilty of raping and molesting two 14-year-old girls 40 years ago.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Michael Lockwood, 65, of Epsom, Surrey was accused of sexually abusing the girls while working as a lifeguard at a leisure centre near Hull during the 1980s.
He resigned from his job as director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) when the allegations first emerged in December 2022.
A jury at the Old Bailey deliberated for nearly 10 hours before finding Mr Lockwood not guilty of 17 charges relating to both women, who are now in their 50s.
Claims were made he had repeatedly raped and indecently assaulted one of the women in a storeroom at the leisure centre near Hull.
After these claims were made public, a second woman came to police saying Mr Lockwood had indecently assaulted her in a male toilet and storeroom at the centre.
Mr Lockwood denied any sexual activity with the first complainant and it was alleged she must have mistaken him for another lifeguard after seeing him on the news.
Meanwhile, he accepted having a relationship with the second girl, but said nothing sexual happened until she had turned 16.
He was cleared of three rapes and six indecent assaults on the first complainant and eight indecent assaults on the second.
Mr Lockwood appeared emotional in the dock and thanked the jury before they left court.
The court had heard Mr Lockwood allegedly met the schoolgirls when he worked part-time as a lifeguard and was either studying at Hull University or working as an auditor for Humberside County Council.
The first complainant said she naively believed she was in a "proper relationship" when he first kissed her, jurors heard.
It was claimed Lockwood indecently assaulted her in his car while dropping her home and repeatedly raped her in the leisure centre storeroom.
Giving evidence, she said: "It was only when I had children that I started to realise it probably was not my fault. The awareness was growing that it was abuse and it was not a consensual relationship."
She told jurors: "I was feeling emotionally vulnerable. I knew at some point I would need to deal with this. I knew it would be opening a can of worms.
"I could not get closure without reporting and it was something I had to do.
"What happened back then were his choices, they were not mine."
Read more: Devon woman with ME, 27, died months after begging GP for help, inquest told
It was alleged the second complainant's relationship with Mr Lockwood crossed over with his engagement and the alleged offences against the first woman. Mr Lockwood denied this.
It was claimed Mr Lockwood would pull her into a male toilet cubicle at the centre where he kissed and sexually touched her, later using the storeroom.
Jurors heard it was "common knowledge" among other lifeguards but giving evidence, Mr Lockwood said he was "absolutely shocked" when confronted with the allegations.
He said he did not recognise the name of the first complainant and was "particularly upset" by the second woman's claims because they had been in a “long-standing relationship”.
He told jurors: "It was somebody I loved. It was a long-standing relationship."
On their age gap, he said: "I thought at the time she acted maturely in a grown-up way. I was quite immature at that age."
The defendant, who is married with two children, denied having any sexual activity with the first complainant and insisted he would never have had sex with a 14-year-old or taken advantage of anyone.
Mr Lockwood was the first person to lead the IOPC after it replaced the Police Complaints Commission in 2018.
Mr Lockwood had been responsible for the Grenfell Tower after the fatal fire in 2017 but he resigned his role as co-chairman of the Grenfell Memorial Trust following the allegations.
