A Coventry policeman says he did not recognise a domestic abuse victim in a photograph he is alleged to have had sex, a jury was told.
West Midlands Police officer Marc Forth replied “no” when asked point-blank by his barrister during a trial at Warwick Crown Court whether he had had sex with her.
Forth, 42, from Nuneaton, has denied misconduct in a public office by having a relationship with the woman, raping another woman, inciting a 15-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity, and sexually assaulting another girl.
Prosecutor Michael Shaw said a woman contacted the police in May 2013 as a result of domestic abuse.
“Forth was assigned to deal with it. He spoke to her and engaged in consensual sexual activity with her after he contacted her that evening, while off-duty.
“She described him as being professional, but that he became flirty and mentioned his partner and suggested they all get together ‘for some fun’.
“He called her later and said he had spoken to her ex-boyfriend and told him to stay away. He then visited her flat and suggested she meet [his girlfriend], and she and Forth had consensual sex at the flat.”
It was alleged Forth later visited the flat again with his girlfriend, and that they spoke to her about the possibility of engaging in joint sexual activity – but that she declined.
Giving evidence, Forth agreed he had been shown a picture of the woman last week, but said he had not recognised her.
Asked whether he denied meeting her, he replied: “No. The [police] log and the crime report were shown to me, and had my name on, but I don’t remember her.”
His barrister Anthony Bell asked: “Did you have sex with [her]? Forth replied: “No.”
He was asked: “On the date you were called out to her address?” And he answered: “No, definitely not.”
Mr Bell asked: “Have you ever had sex with a victim on the day you first met them?” Again he responded: “No.”
“Or anyone else you’ve met in the course of your duties?” Forth again answered: “No.”
In response to further questions about that woman, Forth said he did not have any subsequent contact with her in either a professional or other context, did not have any sexualised phone conversations with her and did not exchange text messages.
It is alleged that when a 15-year-old babysitter stayed overnight at his home, he tried to persuade her to have a drink when he and his then-partner got home, saying it would be fun.
And after the girl asked to use their en-suite shower the next morning, it is said that when she emerged Forth was lying on the bed with his girlfriend.
“She recalled him saying ‘Come on, let’s have some fun.’
“She said she was only 15, and he said ‘I won’t tell if you don’t,’ and he pulled her towards him,” Mr Shaw has alleged.
“She resisted, and she describes him then starting to touch [his girlfriend] sexually in front of her.”
Of that incident, Forth denied offering her a drink, and said she had been asleep on the sofa when he and his partner got back, and that they had gone straight to bed.
He said they were woken by the girl asking to use the shower, and that he had felt uncomfortable when she then came out wearing his dressing-gown and sat on the end of the bed.
“There was an uncomfortably long conversation with her. I wanted to get up and go to the shower, and I wasn’t comfortable about that with a 15-year-old girl in the room.”
He was asked: “Was there any discussion about sex… implied or blatant?” And he answered: “No.”
The allegations, and another misconduct charge of which Forth has been cleared on the directions of the judge, emerged after another girl told her mother Forth had touched her between the legs when she was eight or nine.
But Forth insisted he had never touched her in that way.
It was also alleged he had raped that girl’s mother, who had met him through a mutual friend, when she was at his home at the time in the Tuttle Hill area of Nuneaton.
In response to questions about that allegation, he denied forcing a chocolate bar into her and raping her.
The trial continues.
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