A local Met police officer, PC Nick Whitcombe, has been charged with rape and sexual assaults, allegedly attacking two women while off-duty.
Whitcombe is attached to the South West Command Unit, which covers Putney and other parts of Wandsworth as well as Richmond, Kingston, Merton.
He was charged on Thursday 13 February with one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault but the news was only made public Monday afternoon, the day before he is due to appear before Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court.
The incidents themselves reportedly took place nearly a year earlier on Tuesday, 9 April 2024 while he was off-duty. PC Whitcombe was arrested the same day and immediately suspended.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that the two victims, both women, have been supported throughout.
The arrest comes amid an ongoing effort at the Met to prioritise investigation of, and action against, claims of sexual assault and violence against women and girls (VAWG).
In May last year, a former Met policeman from Putney was convicted of multiple rapes and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Cliff Mitchell, 24, was convicted in February of ten counts of rape, three counts of rape of a child under 13, one count of kidnap and breach of a non-molestation order. He was a serving police officer in Hounslow when many of the offences were committed.
Mitchell was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court to life imprisonment with a minimum of 14 years.
