Former officer convicted of rape after abusing position of trust

Mark Tyrrell, who was attached to the force’s Specialist Operations command, was found guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court on 27 October. He had previously pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office and a further count of perverting the course of justice.

The IOPC began investigating in April 2023 after the Met referred the case. The woman had first met Tyrrell when he attended a welfare check at her home. He subsequently contacted her privately without a legitimate policing purpose, using her mobile number obtained through his duties.

The investigation found evidence that Tyrrell used his position to establish and maintain a sexual relationship with the woman over several years. In April 2023, officers attending a report of a disturbance at her home found him hiding under a duvet on the bedroom floor.

Evidence gathered by investigators included witness accounts, recordings of telephone conversations, thousands of text messages and financial records. Tyrrell was convicted of perverting the course of justice for deleting messages from his phone in an attempt to destroy evidence after officers found him at the address.

He had also admitted pressuring the woman to give police a false account of their relationship and admitted misconduct in public office for using information obtained through his role to initiate a sexual relationship with a woman he knew to be vulnerable.

Tyrrell was cleared of 13 other charges of sexual offences.

He retired from the Met while under investigation. An accelerated misconduct hearing in December 2023 concluded that he would have been dismissed without notice had he remained a serving officer, and he was added to the police barred list.

The Met said it would consider preparing a report for the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime to support a possible application for pension forfeiture.

Tyrrell will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 16 December.