Police officer accused of suggesting threesome claims he was ‘set up’

A 36-year-old woman alleges the police officer flirted with her while on duty before saying he wanted to “meet up” to have sex.

PC Darren Booth, 40, told a misconduct hearing that he denied ever asking the woman, known as Miss A, for sex, and that he met up with her after his shift “for legitimate policing reasons“.

He claimed the woman and her friend had “set me up to get me into trouble“.

Miss A, 36, alleges PC Booth propositioned her when he was called to deal with anti-social behaviour among her group of street drinkers in Castleford town centre on 7 March 2019.

Miss A said the officer then told her “and if you could get someone else involved it would be even better“, before arranging to meet her after his shift finished at 11pm.

She told the hearing how she met PC Booth in a club car park before going to a flat – but had tipped off his colleagues at West Yorkshire Police.

PC Booth told the panel that he agreed to go to the flat where Miss A was staying, in nearby Glasshoughton.

He said he made the visit because Miss A claimed she did not want to tell him what she knew while he was in uniform with others around.

After he went to the flat, two officers arrived following Miss A’s tip-off.

Asked how he felt at that moment, he said:

“Shock. Why were the police there? Were they on a drugs raid?“

“I didn’t know what was happening.”

Recalling why he didn’t explain himself to the other officers, PC booth said: “It just looks bad that an officer is in a room with two known criminals.”

He added: “But I was there for legitimate reasons. At that moment, everything was going through my head.”

PC Booth also denied visiting the flat to pursue a sexual relationship with Miss A, saying he was there to “get some information”.

He added: “I was doing my job.”

However, he told the panel he was “stupid” to go to the flat and said it was “the biggest mistake of my life“.

The panel heard how PC Booth is married with children and has been a police officer for nine years. He was previously a police community support officer for five years before that.

The hearing is being held at a police station in Wakefield with a video link for press and public at another station, seven miles away in Normanton.