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All three, from West Midlands Police, face court cases next year and in early 2023. It emerged the PC was charged in June, the sergeant in October 2019, and the special constable in April of that year. The PC and the special constable have been suspended. The sergeant is now retired from the force. A fourth West Midlands PC, who was cleared of rape last August, is facing a misconduct review.

The details emerged yesterday as police struggle to regain public trust after the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Parliament protection officer PC Wayne Couzens. The killer, 48, now serving a whole-life sentence, used his Metropolitan Police warrant card to falsely arrest Sarah, 33, in south London in March.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has ordered an inquiry into Sarah’s killing to ensure tactics used by Couzens to ensnare her can never happen again.

An internal inquiry is also probing the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, where Couzens was serving when he killed Sarah.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating the police response to a report Couzens twice exposed himself at a takeaway restaurant 72 hours before he kidnapped Sarah. After Couzens was sentenced, it emerged that before Sarah’s murder he swapped disturbing material with fellow officers online.

The IOPC’s deputy director-general, Claire Bassett, has called for a culture change within the police service.

She said: “What starts out as perhaps inappropriate jokes and language within a sort of canteen culture can easily spread to WhatsApp groups where perhaps there’s members of public, where there’s really inappropriate jokes and offensive images.

“That, in turn, can be reflected in the way people are dealt with. The most serious cases we see where those relationships and that trust that women – for example female victims, vulnerable victims – may place in the police, is abused and police abuse their position for sexual purposes.”

Meanwhile, two conmen wearing “crude” fake police uniforms are being hunted after they tricked their way into a house in Barking, east London. They told the occupants they were there to search the property and were initially allowed inside, but fled after the residents demanded to see their identification.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “If one of our officers contacts you in person, they’ll show you their police warrant card. This is proof of their identity and authority.”

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