In 2026, a 57-year-old former police officer was convicted at Southwark Crown Court after using his official duties to target, sexually assault, and rape a vulnerable woman.
Mark Tyrrell, residing in Meltham, West Yorkshire, stood trial facing multiple sexual and public justice offences arising from conduct during his police service.
The prosecution detailed how Tyrrell met the victim in an official capacity while serving as an officer attached to the specialist Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command. Rather than providing protection, Tyrrell exploited her vulnerability to engineer contact. He breached operational policing procedures by attending her residential address alone without colleagues present, providing her with small gifts, and obtaining her private phone number.
Tyrrell initiated private contact from his personal handset, gradually manipulating and pressuring the woman into submitting to his sexual demands while warning her that exposing the relationship would cause him to lose his job and face imprisonment.
The offending escalated to serious physical violence. In May 2021, following an instance where the victim explicitly refused his advances, Tyrrell carried out a non-consensual sexual violation, raping her. The court heard the victim gave a recorded interview outlining how Tyrrell admitted the assault to her immediately afterwards, threatening that he would turn himself in to the authorities. Forensic examiners later retrieved deleted communications from Tyrrell’s mobile device, in which he wrote: “I’m sorry… for being a sex offender… for ruining your life by being in it.”
The victim maintained contemporaneous logs and notes regarding the attacks, which proved critical to the prosecution case. In April 2023, police attended the property and discovered Tyrrell hiding inside the victim’s bedroom. The woman captured audio recordings of Tyrrell actively pleading with her to lie to attending officers to cover up his crimes.
Tyrrell retired from policing in 2023 while subject to an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Prior to the trial, Tyrrell entered guilty pleas to:
One count of misconduct in public office
One count of perverting the course of justice (for pressuring the victim to lie to police)
On 27 October 2026, following jury deliberations at Southwark Crown Court, Tyrrell was found guilty of:
One count of rape
Three counts of sexual assault
One count of perverting the course of justice (for attempting to delete digital evidence)
Dominique Burrell, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS London South, commended the victim’s resilience and noted that Tyrrell acted as a predator who exploited the public trust placed in him to inflict horrific abuse on a vulnerable victim.
Tyrrell was remanded in custody and is scheduled to be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 16 December 2026, where statutory reporting requirements and lifetime sexual offender orders will be considered.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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