In her victim impact statement, read to the court, the woman said she felt “emotionally numb” after the attack.<\/p>\n
She said: “While I was not suicidal, I often felt that the idea of not waking up the next day was appealing.”<\/p>\n
She added: “A conviction does not bring me closure. I will continue to live with the effects of what he has done.”<\/p>\n
The victim contacted police in October 2023 to report the rape.<\/p>\n
Edwards was arrested in April 2024, the Metropolitan Police said, and he was charged with rape the following March.<\/p>\n
Edwards, who had been a police officer for more than eight years before he was suspended in 2022, was found guilty on 22 May of one count of rape following a trial.<\/p>\n
The court heard Edwards, of Bexhill, East Sussex, <\/a>had previously been charged with rape of two other women<\/a> but was acquitted of raping one in a first trial, and cleared of the rape of the other following a retrial.<\/p>\n The CPS said although he had not been convicted following that first trial, prosecutors successfully applied to the court to use the same evidence as bad character evidence in this trial.<\/p>\n Prosecutors presented recorded interviews and cross-examination evidence from the previous proceedings, which revealed similarities in Edwards’ behaviour across both cases.<\/p>\n Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds<\/a> and follow BBC London on Facebook, external<\/a>, X, external<\/a> and Instagram, external<\/a>. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk, external<\/a><\/p>\n