Police officer made domestic abuse victim look him in eyes while describing revenge porn images of herself, court hears
'You're fit, I hope you don't see me intruding, by being in your bedroom, sitting on your bed? Some people might take that the wrong way'
A police officer made a domestic violence victim look him in the eye while describing revenge porn images of herself, a court has heard.
PC Colin Noble is said to have “sexually groomed” the woman after she called police because her abusive ex-partner had breached a restraining order.
The 47-year-old officer repeatedly visited her Birmingham home over several months with comments becoming increasingly inappropriate, the city’s crown court was told.
On one occasion, he is alleged to have told the 30-year-old he would like to see what was under her dressing gown. On another, jurors heard, he ordered her to undo a dress while she was in her own bedroom.
He denies misconduct in public office.
Prosecutor Robert Price said PC Noble – who serves in West Midlands Police’s public protection unit – was initially investigating a complaint that the woman’s abusive former partner had sent intimate revenge porn images to a friend.
Mr Price said: “He pressed her to describe the photographs to him. She felt embarrassed, and kept looking away, and he kept telling her to look into his eyes, making her feel horrible and intimidated.”
Over several visits from April 2017, some of which the woman recorded on her phone, he continued to make suggestive remarks, jurors were told.
On one visit, he followed her into her own bedroom, Mr Price said, telling her: “You’re fit, I hope you don’t see me intruding, by being in your bedroom, sitting on your bed? Some people might take that the wrong way. Come closer, I’m not going to bite.”
Giving evidence from behind a screen, the alleged victim claimed he later said: “By the way, this conversation didn’t take place, this is between you and me, and nobody else.”
Summarising the prosecution case, Mr Price added: “There can be no doubt, we say, that a police officer who deliberately takes advantage of a vulnerable victim of crime, by embarking on a course of sexual grooming towards her in a gross breach of the trust in which she held him, is guilty of a crime of misconduct in a public office.”
The trial continues.
Additional reporting by PA