Former police officer cleared of raping woman

A former police officer has been cleared of three counts of rape and two of sexual assault following a trial.

PC Lewis McCracken, who had been working for Bedfordshire Police, denied the charges against him and was found not guilty on all counts by a jury at Peterborough Crown Court.

The accusations levelled against the 27-year-old, of no fixed address, related to one woman and were said to have happened in November 2022 in Bedford.

Bedfordshire Police told the BBC in a statement that Mr McCracken was a former officer, having resigned from the force earlier this year.

He had not been on duty at the time of the alleged offences.

In court, Simon Ward, for the prosecution, said the defendant's case was that the woman touched him and performed a sex act on him "of her own volition, then there had been no further sexual contact".

According to the Police Federation he resigned in April while under investigation for gross misconduct.

A police misconduct hearing has not yet taken place.

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