Charges against a police officer accused of rape and false imprisonment have been dropped.
In March, Christopher Henderson, 40, from Cheadle Hulme, was charged with four counts of rape and one of false imprisonment. He appeared in court and was suspended from duty by Greater Manchester Police.
Now it has emerged that all charges against the officer have been dropped after prosecutors carried out a review of evidence. He remains suspended from duty and may still face internal misconduct proceedings, according to Greater Manchester Police.
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The charges against the officer, a detective constable based in GMP's city of Manchester district, were dropped on April 27, according to prosecutors.
A spokesperson for GMP said: "Greater Manchester Police works with the Crown Prosecution Service at every stage of investigations and proceedings.
"Since the charges were authorised in March 2023 evidence has come to light which has, ultimately, resulted in the decision to discontinue this case.
"Misconduct proceedings were held sub judice until the conclusion of criminal proceedings. As is required in law, GMP’s Professional Standards Branch will now undertake a re-assessment of the evidence to determine whether the officer should face internal misconduct proceedings.
"The officer remains suspended from duty at this time."
A CPS spokesperson said: "We have a duty to keep all cases under review and, following a review of further evidence gathered by Greater Manchester Police, a decision was made to discontinue the case.
"The CPS will consider any new information that is referred to us by the police in relation to this case.
"We will always seek to prosecute rape and sexual offence and bring offenders to justice, whenever our legal test is met."
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