Ex-Met police officer from Stevenage guilty of raping two women
Prosecutor James Thacker KC had told the trial that one woman said she was raped in 2021 and the other in 2024.The two women lived in different parts of the country and did not know each other, Mr Thacker told the trial.He said Cummings had been arrested at his mother's home in Weymouth, Dorset.
Cummings, who has also lived in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, denied both rape charges and said sex was consensual.He said neither woman had said "no".Barrister Campaspe Lloyd-Jacob, who represented Cummings, told jurors they could not be sure he was guilty of rape.Miss Lloyd-Jacob said the question was whether Cummings "could not reasonably have believed" that the women were consenting.
Cummings had already been convicted of other offences against the two women, jurors heard.He had been found guilty of controlling and coercive behaviour and voyeurism in October, after a trial at St Albans Crown Court, and had admitted stalking.A judge has yet to sentence Cummings for those offences.Jurors in the earlier trial failed to reach verdicts on the rape charges and, as a result, a second trial was held.
Cummings served as a special constable in Dorset from April 2018 before joining the Met as a regular officer in November 2019, jurors heard.The Metropolitan Police sacked him in October after concluding that he had committed gross misconduct.
Det Insp Dale Mepstead, of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit, paid tribute to Cummings' victims."The emotional impact of Cummings' offending will live with his victims for many years, but it is through their brave testimony that he has finally been brought to justice," she said."I hope that the knowledge that he is facing a considerable time behind bars provides a sense of relief and I hope they can begin to move on with their lives."
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