Ex-detective on misconduct charges

A former detective specialising in rape and sex assault cases is to be prosecuted for faking police records.

Ryan Coleman Farrow will be charged with 13 counts of misconduct in a public office, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

The ex-detective constable "wilfully engaged in conduct amounting to an abuse of the public's trust" while working for Scotland Yard's specialist Sapphire unit, charges against him read.

Investigators for the police watchdog obtained a summons from Westminster Magistrates' Court for the 30-year-old to appear in the dock on June 20.

The charges relate to investigations into allegations of rape and serious sexual offences between January 2007 and September 2010 whilst he was an officer at Kingston upon Thames and then under central command in London.

The prosecution follows a lengthy Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation.

A CPS statement said: "The 13 charges include allegations that Mr Coleman Farrow failed to perform his duty in investigating rape and sexual assault cases, falsified entries on the police's Crime Report Information System and falsified records of CPS decisions which had never actually been referred to the CPS.

"The decision to prosecute was taken in accordance with the code for Crown prosecutors.

"After very careful consideration of all the evidence, I am satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute this case.

"Mr Coleman Farrow now faces criminal charges and has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that nothing should be reported which could prejudice this trial. Proceedings are now active."