A woman who fled her abusive husband was 'shocked' a male police officer was sent to make welfare checks at the Wembley hotel she was staying in, a court has heard.
PC Rudvelle Walters, 48, who is attached to the North West Command Unit, is on trial at Southwark Crown Court charged with one count of sexual assault.
The woman, who is in her 20s and cannot be identified for legal reasons, said she expected a female officer to be sent to her hotel room at the Best Western Hotel, in the High Road, after she fled there to escape her husband, who contacted police to report her missing following an argument.
It was during the welfare check that PC Walters is alleged to have put his hand into the woman’s underwear after earlier saying he would only leave her hotel room if her friend, who was also present, gave him a kiss.
The 48-year-old, from Hazlewood Close, in Luton, denies sexually assaulting the woman in the hotel on February 5, 2019.
Outlining the case on June 21, prosecutor Abigail Husbands said the alleged sexual assault happened at around 6am, after Walters was called to her room to ask her a few questions following a missing persons report.
He entered the room alone, the court heard.
Ms Husbands said: “She felt uncomfortable and asked him to leave.
“He said he would if her friend gave him a kiss, and he tried to pull the duvet off her and to get a kiss from her.
“(She) tried to get him to stop.”
Ms Husbands said Walters is later alleged to have put his right hand up the left leg of the missing woman’s shorts.
The prosecutor said: “His hand was not there long, because she jumped away.
“She was extremely shocked about what had happened.”
Describing her ordeal in a video interview with police, the alleged victim said: “He said he would go once he got a kiss. I repeated: ‘A kiss?’
“He said: ‘Not from you, you’re married, it’s too late for you, but I’ll have it from your friend.’
“She thought it was just a joke.
“She covered her face all the way up to her eyes with the duvet.
“There was a scramble. He was pulling it down, and she was pulling it up again.
“I told her she’s naked. He said: ‘That’s why I’m pulling it off.'”
She added, through a Polish-English translator: “After that incident I have lost all my trust for the police.
“I ended up in a very difficult situation. When I needed help, just like when I had an argument with my husband, I was left alone. I am really scared.”
Ms Husbands said Walters was later arrested by police, and said in a prepared statement that the two women “had become overfamiliar” while speaking to him, and one had repeatedly touched his arm and tried to hug him.
Ms Husbands told the jury: “(Walters said he) had initially briefly reciprocated the hug before pulling away.
“At one point the other woman came over and hugged him and he felt uncomfortable being there on his own and made his excuses to leave.”
The court heard there was evidence that a smiley face emoji was sent from the woman’s Facebook account to Walters’ account at around 6.20am, the time during which the officer was in the hotel, and that Walters’ account sent two messages nearly two hours later saying hello.
However, the woman denied she had sent the initial message.
She told the police in interview: “I understand why you are asking me about this.
“But if I report this officer slapped me on the bottom, tried to kiss my friend, and slipped his hand in my knickers, I don’t think it’s that relevant – it is not about messages on Instagram or Facebook, it’s about a sexual assault.
“It’s about what happened in the room.”
The trial continues.
Additional reporting by Ryan Hooper, PA
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