Cummings bombarded them with messages and isolated them from friends, family and colleagues
A former Metropolitan Police officer has been jailed for a “campaign of abuse” which included the rapes of two women. Jake Cummings, of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, was a special constable in Dorset and then a police officer in London when he carried out a campaign of “extensive controlling, coercive behaviour” against three woman which covered a total of just under five years through to 2024.
He was jailed by St Alban’s Crown Court on Tuesday for a total of 16 years with a two-year extension for 10 offences. He was found guilty by a jury of three counts of coercive controlling behaviour, two counts of voyeurism and two counts of rape at a retrial.
Cummings, 26, also admitted two counts of stalking and was found guilty by a jury of a third count of the same offence. During sentencing, Judge Bilal Siddique said Cummings deployed a “strikingly similar pattern of abuse” against his victims.
Cummings bombarded them with messages and isolated them from friends, family and colleagues, and there was additional degradation and humiliation of the women he raped who suffered severe psychological harm.
The judge said “this was anything but impulsive offending”, adding: “The period of offending – it was nearly five years beginning in July 2019 to February 2024 – that can only be described as as nothing other than a campaign of abuse.”
The judge noted “the sheer volume of contact”, saying: “(Some of this) contact must have taken place during your shifts as a serving police officer.” During Cummings’ first trial, Met officer Zak Russell told the court: “I recall on shifts that he would be constantly on his phone and would be messaging someone at all hours.”
Between July 2019 and February 2024, Cummings made the lives of his three victims a misery with his oppressive behaviour, the court heard. Each recalled similar harrowing stories of harassment and coercive control. The offences include Cummings watching one of the victims using security cameras.
Jurors heard that he used phone apps to track the first complainant’s location, as well as creating multiple social media accounts to message her, and driving down the road where she lived uninvited.
Detectives began their investigation when a victim made a report in February 2024. Media attention after he was charged led to a second victim coming forward later that month. Officers identified a third victim through a download from Cummings’ mobile device in April 2024, Hertfordshire Constabulary said.
The case was initially taken by Hertfordshire’s Sexual Offences Investigation Team, before being transferred to the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit due to the complex circumstances.
Cummings was sacked from the Met after a disciplinary hearing found he had committed gross misconduct.
After sentencing, Neil Vaughan, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “Jake Cummings thought that he was above the law, but his convictions prove otherwise.
“These women did not know one another, but together they painted a compelling picture which laid bare the vile pattern of abuse inflicted by Cummings.”
He said the CPS had worked closely with Hertfordshire Constabulary after the “complex investigation”, adding: “We hope his convictions reiterate the clear message that the CPS will relentlessly pursue justice for victims of rape and serious sexual offences.”
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