Michael Lockwood: Former police watchdog chief ‘shocked’ by sexual abuse allegations

The former head of the police watchdog has spoken of his “shock” at historical sex allegations, saying he resigned from his top role because it was “the right thing to do”.

Michael Lockwood, of Epsom, Surrey, faces 17 charges, including three rapes and 14 indecent assaults, involving two 14-year-old girls around 40 years ago.

At the time he was in his 20s and working part-time at a leisure centre near Hull, where he allegedly met and sexually abused girls.

Mr Lockwood had a “distinguished” career in local government before becoming chief executive of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the police complaints watchdog for England and Wales.

One of the alleged victims, now in her 50s, claimed she was repeatedly raped in a store cupboard and indecently assaulted in Mr Lockwood’s Ford Capri.

A second woman later claimed Mr Lockwood indecently assaulted her in the men’s toilets at the leisure centre and in the back of her mother’s car after she turned 15.

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey on Friday, Mr Lockwood told jurors how his public profile grew around 2021 after police officer Wayne Couzens murdered Sarah Everard and a young black man named Chris Kaba was fatally shot.

Mr Lockwood said: “I was absolutely shocked. I didn’t recognise the name of the individual. Secondly, this related to events that happened 45 years ago.”

Asked about the second woman, he said he was “particularly upset” because they were a couple.

He said: “He was someone I loved. It was a long-standing relationship.”

He insisted that their sexual relationship began after she turned 16 and was consensual.

Following the initial allegations, he decided to leave his post at the IOPC in December 2022.

He told jurors: “I thought it was the right thing to do. The press took a lot of interest in his project.”

Mr Lockwood, 65, denies three counts of rape and six counts of indecent assault relating to the first complainant between October 1985 and March 1986.

He pleaded not guilty to eight indecent assaults on the second complainant on dates between August 1979 and August 1981.