Former Met Police officer jailed for five and a half years for raping woman

A sex beast cop who raped a woman "in the vilest way" has been jailed for five and a half years for his horror attack. Former Met PC Tony Watts, who was previously attached to the force's North Area Command Unit, was jailed at Croydon Crown Court this morning having been found guilty and remanded in custody following a trial at the same court which concluded last month. Following the conviction the rogue officer was last week sacked.

The offence relates to an incident that happened between mid-January and early February in 2020 which occurred whilst shaven-headed Watts was off-duty. The bearded brute now joins a growing list of Met sex attackers including Sarah Everard killer Wayne Couzens and serial rapist David Carrick. The force said the victim-survivor of Watts attack has been fully supported throughout the course of the investigation and subsequent trial by dedicated specialist officers.

Det Ch Supt Caroline Haines, who leads the North Area policing team, said: "Tony Watts has shown a complete disregard for this victim-survivor and for his duty to protect women and girls - in the vilest way.

"We are going above and beyond at the Met to rid the force of those who corrupt our integrity, and it is quite right that Watts has been held accountable for his actions.

"It would have taken a huge amount of courage and strength to speak to police, the way this victim-survivor did, and I hope this sentence provides some closure.

"My message to any other victims who may have experienced a sexual encounter they felt wasn't right is that they can and should come forward, and we will do everything we can to support you."

Watts was arrested following the incident being reported in May 2022.

He was bailed while further enquiries took place, before being charged with rape on Wednesday, 25 September 2024 and suspended from duty.

A misconduct hearing took place on Friday, 8 August where Watts was dismissed without notice after the Chair found he breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in respect of Discreditable Conduct at a level of gross misconduct.

He will now be added to the Barred List held by the College of Policing. Those appearing on the list cannot be employed by police, local policing bodies, the Independent Office for Police Conduct or His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.

Earlier this year police chiefs were told they would be granted new powers to sack hundreds of "rogue" officers who fail background checks.

Previous figures showed more than 1,000 complaints of violence by police officers towards women and girls were lodged in one six-month stretch.

Statistics from the National Police Chiefs' Council show 653 internal "conduct cases" complaining of violence towards females were made against 672 individuals from October 2021 to March 2022.

There were 524 complaints by members of the public against 867 officers in the same time.

The allegations included sexual assault and harassment plus discreditable conduct not in the execution of their duty.

Police chiefs have promised to release the data each year to tackle misogyny in policing.

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