Ex-Met officer from Couzens unit guilty of rape

A former Metropolitan Police officer who served in the same command as Wayne Couzens has been found guilty of raping a woman.

Mark Tyrrell, 57, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court of one count of rape, three of sexual assault and one of perverting the course of justice by trying to delete messages he had sent her.

Jurors heard he had sex with the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, after she repeatedly said no, then asked her: "Do you realise that what I've just done, that was rape?"

He was cleared of a further count of rape, four of assault by penetration and eight of sexual assault.

Tyrrell, of Meltham, West Yorkshire, had been attached to the Met's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, the unit in which Couzens and David Carrick, both convicted rapists, also served.

Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly KC said that when the woman resisted his advances "he simply chose to take what he wanted". Concerns were first raised when officers visiting her home on an unrelated matter found him hiding beside her bed.

In one message, he apologised for "being a sex offender" and "for ruining your life by being in it".

Giving evidence, Tyrrell said sex between them had always been consensual and "there was never any forcefulness to it".

He had already admitted misconduct in a public office and a separate count of perverting the course of justice, for persuading the woman to lie to police about why he was in her bedroom.

Ch Supt Sara Leach said: "This kind of conduct is abhorrent but even more so when it is carried out by a serving officer, who had gained the trust of the victim.

"We remain appalled that someone like this was serving within our organisation and it is right he has been brought to justice."

Sarah Everard, 33, was kidnapped, raped and murdered by Couzens in March 2021. He is serving a whole-life order.

Carrick, a former armed officer, is serving 36 life sentences for attacks on more than a dozen women.

Tyrrell resigned from the force in September 2023 after being arrested and suspended.

He will be sentenced at the same court on 16 December.

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