Newmarket: Ex Met Officer Adam Provan jailed for 16 years

Adam Provan, 44, was a former Metropolitan Police officer from Newmarket who was obsessed with young women, Wood Green Crown Court heard. 

His predatory behaviour dated back to the 1990s, and between 2003 and 2005, he repeatedly raped a female police officer.

Prosecutors said Provan was obsessed with young women, had viewed teenage pornography and collected more than 700 female contacts on his mobile phone.

Lauren Taylor was raped on a blind date by Provan when she was 16 (Image: PA)

Provan was sentenced to 16 years in jail after being found guilty of eight rapes against the two women, with one of the women speaking of her ordeal. 

Lauren Taylor came forward in 2016 to say Provan raped her on a blind date when she was 16.

She had agreed to go to the cinema with Provan, then 31, after he lied about his age, saying he was 22.

Provan took her to the woods, where he had sex with her, despite Taylor repeatedly telling him no.

Adam Provan has been sentenced to 16 years in jail (Image: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire)

After waiving her right to anonymity, she said: “I was kind of hugging the tree like emotional support, pretended I was anywhere else in the world but back there.

"I remember it can’t have been long, but it felt like a long time.”

Provan took her for a milkshake, before forcing her to engage in a sex act in a children's playground.

Ms Taylor said: “I remember in the far distance there was a crowd of people. I was just praying that maybe someone would see me, someone would see what was going on.”

All the offences were committed while Provan was a serving officer in the Met’s East Area Command Unit.

A first trial for double rape ended in a hung jury, but he was convicted in 2018 and jailed for nine years.

He was dismissed from the Metropolitan Police a year later.

Provan served three years and three months in prison, before he was released on bail after the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial.

Ms Taylor gave evidence for a third time at a fresh trial, where six more charges of rape were added. These related to Provan's previous attacks on the female officer. 

In a victim impact statement, Ms Taylor told the court: “No amount of justice will make me forget the date from hell.

“Even though I tried my best to block it out I will never forget how scared I was when the assault took place and 13 years later reliving my worst nightmare.”

The second victim, who has not waived her lifelong right to anonymity, told the court Provan regarded himself as “untouchable” and bragged about being a “trained killer”.

She told the court she feared he would kill her and accused the Met of failing to protect her and deal with him after she complained about stalking and harassment behaviour in 2005.

Judge Noel Lucas KC told her the treatment she received from the Met was “abysmal”, adding: “I hope it never happens again. More than abysmal, it’s shocking.”

Following the sentencing, Ms Taylor said: “I don’t feel like I’ve done anything amazing. I just feel like I’ve done what I needed to do for me.”

On Provan, she said: “I’m angry at what he’s done to me. I’m angry about who he was. He was a police officer, and we go to them to be protected, and I wasn’t protected.

“And I’m angry for the lack of remorse that he’s shown throughout this whole process.

“I’ve been to court three times. He’s still fully denied what he’s done and even after being in prison for a certain amount of years, he’s not had time to reflect and he’s not changed, he’s still who he is.

“The reason why I did the last retrial was because I wanted to make sure that he didn’t go out and harm anyone else.”