A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with rape following an alleged incident on Brighton beach.
Laurence Knight, 33, was arrested on July 28 last year, after a woman reported being raped on the beach 11 days earlier, and was released on bail.
On Friday he was summoned to appear at Brighton & Hove Magistrates’ Court on June 23, Sussex Police said.
The sergeant, attached to Met Detention, has been suspended from duty.
Scotland Yard said he was off duty at the time of the alleged offence.
Chief superintendent Pete Gardner, in charge of Met Detention, said: “We know people will rightly be concerned to hear about this very serious charge against a serving police officer.”
He also thanked his Sussex colleagues for the specialist support provided to the alleged victim.
Mr Gardner added: “The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards are fully aware and misconduct matters will be dealt with once the criminal proceedings have concluded. The officer is suspended from duty.”
Scotland Yard made a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, who determined the misconduct investigation should be led by the Met.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article