A former Metropolitan police officer has today, Thursday, 29 June, been jailed for raping a woman he knew following an investigation by specialist detectives.
Former PC Ireland Murdock, 27, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for the offence of rape and six weeks for computer misuse, to run consecutively following a hearing at Inner London Crown Court.
He was found guilty of rape on Monday, 3 April following a trial at the same court.
Murdock – who was attached to the Central North Command Unit – was swiftly dismissed from the Met in July 2022 when he pleaded guilty to unauthorised access to computer material after putting the victim’s name through a police system.
Chief Superintendent Andy Carter, who is in charge of policing for the Central North Basic Command Unit, said: “Murdock committed an absolutely atrocious offence, and caused his victim a lot of pain and fear. He betrayed everything we stand for and I am disgusted by his actions.
“I would like to thank the victim for her courage and bravery in coming forward. I would also like to thank those who investigated him for building such a strong case that led to him being found guilty.
“We took immediate action to suspend Murdock from duty when his offending came to light and we dismissed him at the earliest opportunity as soon as he pleaded guilty to unauthorised access to computer material.
“We are determined to have a Met that the public can trust, with officers that people feel confident to approach. When someone fails to meet these standards, we will take action to remove them from our organisation.”
The court heard that on 25 September 2021, while he was off-duty, Murdock raped a woman who was known to him at the time.
On 9 January 2022, the woman reported the incident to the police. Murdock was arrested on 11 January 2022 and, following a thorough investigation by the Met’s Central South Public Protection team, was subsequently charged on 31 March 2022.
The jury heard that in January 2022, after the woman made the report, Murdock searched for the victim’s name on a police system and accessed a restricted crime report relating to her, when he had no policing purpose to so.
Murdock appeared at Inner London Crown Court on 27 May 2022 where he pleaded not guilty to rape. During this appearance, a second charge of unauthorised access to computer material was put to him and he pleaded guilty to this.
As a result of his conviction, Murdock attended an accelerated hearing on 15 July 2022 where it was found that his conduct breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour with respect to discreditable conduct at the level of gross misconduct. He was dismissed without notice.
Murdock was added to the Barred List held by the College of Policing. Those on the list cannot be employed by police, local policing bodies (PCCs), the Independent Office for Police Conduct or Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.
