Detective charged over witness statement in wife murder probe

Image source, Family handout

Image caption, Det Con Robert Ferrow is accused of forging a witness statement during the investigation into the death of Lucy-Anne Rushton (pictured)

A police officer is to appear in court accused of forging a witness statement during the probe into the murder of Lucy-Anne Rushton.

Hampshire Constabulary Det Con Robert Ferrow has been charged after an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation.

He will appear at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on 18 December.

Shaun Dyson was jailed for a minimum of 17 years after murdering his estranged wife in June 2019.

Dyson, 28, repeatedly stamped on 30-year-old Ms Rushton at her home in Andover, Hampshire.

The IOPC said on conclusion of its investigation in July 2020 it referred a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which made the decision to charge the officer.

Det Con Ferrow is charged with making a false instrument with intent for it to be accepted as genuine, under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981.

A spokesman for the police watchdog said: "It is alleged DC Ferrow completed and signed the statement of a witness during the investigation into the murder of Lucy-Anne Rushton."