Ex-police watchdog chief not guilty

Michael Lockwood, the former chief of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), has been found not guilty of 17 historic sex offences, including three rapes and 14 indecent assaults against two girls from 1979 to 1986. The allegations surfaced in December 2022, leading to his resignation, with claims that he had assaulted the girls while working as a lifeguard at a leisure centre in Hull. Lockwood denied the accusations, asserting that the first complainant had mistaken him for another lifeguard and admitting to a relationship with the second girl only after she turned 16. After nearly 10 hours of deliberation, a jury at the Old Bailey delivered the not guilty verdicts. Both complainants are now in their 50s, with one stating that her understanding of the events changed after becoming a parent. Lockwood expressed gratitude towards the jury following the verdict.