Michael Lockwood (public servant)

Michael Frederick Lockwood (born 6 February 1959)[1] is a British civil servant who has served in local government and as inaugural director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the policing watchdog for England and Wales. He is currently awaiting trial for historic sex offences allegedly committed in the 1980s, which he denies.[2][3]

Career

Lockwood was the CEO of Harrow London Borough Council from 2007 until the end of 2013, when the position was eliminated, and again from 2015 after it was reinstituted.[4] In the interim, he was executive director of finance and policy at the Local Government Association.[5] After the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, he led recovery work and liaised with survivors and victims' families.[6] The Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission chose him as co-chair in early 2020.[7]

He was appointed by the Home Office to head the IOPC from its inception in January 2018.[4][8][9] As Director General, Lockwood also chaired the IOPC Board, the majority of which is made up of Non-Executive Directors. The Board advises the Director General and with him sets the strategy for the organisation. In October 2019 Lockwood published an op-ed in The Guardian, defending an investigation his organization had performed into the case of an alleged VIP paedophile ring.[10] He resigned as Director General on 3 December 2022 after he became the subject of a police investigation.[6]

Allegations

In June 2023, he was charged with "six counts of indecent assault and three offences of rape against a girl under the age of 16".[11][12] The nine alleged offences relate to a period between October 1985 and March 1986,[11] when Lockwood worked as a part-time lifeguard in Humberside.[3] He denies all the allegations.[13] He appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court on 28 June 2023, where his lawyer said that he would be pleading not guilty to all the charges.[3][14]

References
  1. "Michael Frederick LOCKWOOD – Personal Appointments". Companies House.
  2. Kirk, Tristan (16 June 2023). "Former police watchdog boss charged with raping teenage girl". Evening Standard.
  3. "Former IOPC chief accused of raping girl while working as Humberside lifeguard". ITV. 28 June 2023.
  4. Jim Dunton (23 October 2017). "Home Office appoints council chief to lead police watchdog". Civil Service World.
  5. David Paine (5 November 2014). "Chief executive returns to Harrow". Local Government Chronicle. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  6. "Police watchdog head Michael Lockwood resigns amid investigation". BBC News. 3 December 2022.
  7. Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government; The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP (13 February 2020). "Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission begins work" (press release). UK Government. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  8. "First director general appointed to lead new Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)". UK Government. 20 October 2017.
  9. "Our People". Independent Office for Police Conduct.
  10. Michael Lockwood (8 October 2019). "Operation Midland made mistakes, but the presumption of innocence must prevail". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  11. "Ex-police watchdog chief Lockwood charged with rape". BBC News. 16 June 2023. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  12. "Former police watchdog chief Michael Lockwood charged with rape of girl". The Guardian. 16 June 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  13. Crew, Jemma (16 June 2023). "Former head of police watchdog charged with rape". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  14. Campbell, James (16 June 2023). "Former police watchdog boss to appear at Hull court charged with sex offences". HullLive. Retrieved 16 June 2023.


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