Former policemen cleared of rape

Pc Andrew Lang and Pc Mark Witcher were cleared of rape

Two former Surrey Police officers have been cleared of raping and indecently assaulting a woman while on duty.

But Mark Witcher, 30, of Drayton, and Andrew Lang, 31, of Whitehill, both in Hampshire, were jailed for 15 months for wilful misconduct in public office.

They said the woman consented to sex after they drove her home.

Mark Rowley, Surrey Police assistant chief constable, said: "We sacked them at the first opportunity and now we are applying to...seize their pensions."

Sentencing them, Mr Justice Davis said: "What you did, in my view, is a disgrace and you have brought great disgrace on yourselves, on the uniform you wore that night and the reputation of the Surrey Police force.

"What you did cannot be dismissed as a moment of madness."

Andrew Lang was found guilty of misconduct in November 2004

The officers, who were based at Guildford, had told the jury during the trial they were "amazed and astonished" by the incident in September 2003.

They said the woman, from Godalming, had consented to sex.

Witcher and Lang had attended an incident outside the club where the woman said she had been attacked by three men and she then got into the patrol car to search the streets for them.

She told the court she had been so drunk the officers had to help her into her home and they then held her down and took turns to have sex with her.

But Witcher said the "threesome" was initiated by the woman and he now deeply regretted it.

After the incident, the men went back to Guildford Police Station where they boasted to a colleague about what happened and an inquiry was launched.

Both men were dismissed from the Surrey force on 16 December last year.

It followed a trial in November when they were found guilty of three charges each of wilful misconduct in public office by having sex while on duty and in uniform, lying on a police radio and failing to report a crime.

The court was told the rape allegation was made after the woman was visited by a Surrey Police officer investigating the misconduct on duty.

Mark Rowley said: "The whole force shares my disgust at such abhorrent behaviour towards a vulnerable victim of crime.

"Surrey Police is absolutely determined to maintain the highest standards of integrity and trust the public rightfully expect."