A Metropolitan Police officer is due in court to face allegations that he coercively controlled his partner and caused suffering to a cat and a dog.
PC Chris Eckford-Soper, 41, is accused of being “physically, mentally, and financially controlling” towards the woman while they were together, between August 2021 and October 2022.
The officer, who is based within an operations room at Croydon Police Station, is also alleged to have struck the cat and the dog, sat on them, and withheld food.
Eckford-Soper is currently suspended from duty, Scotland Yard said, and is due to face four criminal charges for the first time on Thursday.
The PC is due to appear in the dock at Westminster magistrates court for a first appearance.
He has been charged with engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate relationship, ill treatment of a child, and two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
The Met said charges were authorised by the CPS in late May, following an investigation by the force.
The alleged offences happened when Eckford-Soper was off-duty, it added, in a statement.
The Met’s full statement reads: “A Met Police constable will appear in court after being charged with multiple offences, including engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour.
“PC Chris Eckford-Soper, who is aged 41 and based within an operations room in Croydon, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 3 July charged as above, as well as causing assault, ill treatment of a child and two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a dog and a cat.
“The charges, authorised on Monday, 26 May, follow a Met Police investigation into reported offences which allegedly were committed off-duty.
“PC Eckford-Soper remains suspended from duty.”
Eckford-Soper’s court hearing is scheduled for 10am.
