A FORMER Essex Police officer and a suspended Metropolitan Police officer have appeared in court charged with rape after an investigation that has taken almost two years.

The charges follow an investigation led by detectives from Essex Police's Public Protection Investigations Unit into an incident reported to have taken place in Grays in 2022.

Specialist officers have been supporting a woman who came forward to report this matter.

Former Essex Police officer Harry Croot, 29, and Metropolitan Police officer Charlie Raeside, 29, both of Witham, were arrested in September 2024.

Croot is charged with rape.

Raeside is charged with rape, intentional suffocation, and failing to disclose a phone PIN code when lawfully required to do so.

Both appeared before Chelmsford Magistrates' Court today (Wednesday, 5 August).

They were granted conditional bail until a further hearing at Basildon Crown Court on Friday, 4 September.

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Croot was suspended following his arrest and was dismissed from Essex Police in January 2025 over unrelated misconduct matters.

Raeside was suspended following his arrest.