Ex-police watchdog chief cleared of historic sex crimes against girls
Giving evidence, Mr Lockwood said he was ‘absolutely shocked’ when confronted with the allegations.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
The former police watchdog chief has been cleared of raping and molesting two 14-year-old girls 40 years ago.
Michael Lockwood, 65, resigned from his job as director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in December 2022 after allegations first emerged.
It was claimed he had repeatedly raped and indecently assaulted a girl in a storeroom at a leisure centre near Hull where he worked as a lifeguard in the 1980s.
Following publicity about the claims, a second woman told police he 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.
He accepted having a relationship with the second girl, but said nothing sexual happened until she had turned 16.
A jury at the Old Bailey deliberated for nearly 10 hours to find Mr Lockwood, of Epsom in Surrey, not guilty of 17 charges relating to both women, who are now in their 50s.
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 thought she was in a “proper relationship” when he first kissed her, jurors heard.
It was claimed he indecently assaulted her as he dropped her home in his Ford Capri and repeatedly raped her in the storeroom at the leisure centre.
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 felt compelled to report Mr Lockwood years later, even though she took “no joy” from the impact it had on him, she said.
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.”
It was alleged the second complainant’s relationship with Mr Lockwood overlapped his engagement to his university girlfriend Jill and the alleged offences against the first woman, although the defendant denied it.
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 fellow lifeguards who sang a nursery rhyme about them being “locked in the lavatory” together.
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 she was an ex-girlfriend.
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.
In recent years, his public profile was heightened after the murder of Sarah Everard by a Metropolitan Police officer and the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Chris Kaba in London.
Previously, Mr Lockwood took over responsibility for the Grenfell Tower after the fatal fire in 2017.
After the sex allegations emerged, he resigned his role as co-chairman of the Grenfell Memorial Trust.