11:21am Monday 12th May 2008
A MURDER charge against a policeman from Sawbridgeworth has been dropped - days before he was set to stand trial.
Adam Lowe, 27, of Bell Street, was due to appear at the Old Bailey today (May 12) accused of killing 21-year-old Lee Cook during a brawl at a London bar in July last year.
But late last week the Crown Prosecution Service announced it was to offer no evidence against PC Lowe, who remains suspended from his position with City of London Police.
"All interested parties have been informed, and we have offered Mr Cook's family a meeting to further explain our decision," said a CPS spokesman.
"We keep cases under constant review and in this case we consider there is no longer sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of prosecution," he added.
PC Lowe was one of three men originally charged with the murder of Mr Cook, a barrister's clerk who lived with his family in Harold Wood, Romford.
The charge against Lloyd Moore, an administrator, of Lindsey Street, in Epping, was withdrawn last September following a CPS review of case papers.
Rick Maynard, 27, a product designer, from Woodford Green, still faces a charge of manslaughter and is due to appear at the Old Bailey today (May 12).