English policeman accused of being serial rapist

PC Stephen Mitchell, a policeman with northern England's Northumbria Police, has been remanded into custody after going before a court accused of being a serial rapist. Mitchell was arrested in Scotland on Monday and appeared before court yesterday.

Northumbria police made the arrest in Glasgow in connection with a string of attacks between 1999 and 2007 with nineteen alleged victims. He was taken to Northumbria, where officers on Wednesday charged him with seven rapes, seventeen sexual assaults, and nineteen instances of misconduct in a public office, totalling 43 offences.

41-year-old Mitchell, who has served covering the Newcastle and Northumberland areas, was denied bail at Newcastle Magistrates' Court by a district judge and will remain in prison until his next court appearance, before the Crown Court on February 4. He had initially appeared the day he was charged, but the case was adjourned one day to allow time for a bail request to be prepared.

The investigation was conducted by the professional standards department of Mitchell's police force, who are being supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. A Commission spokesman described the inquiry as an "ongoing investigation" and asked anyone who might know anything relevant to get in touch with police.