A jury in Newcastle Crown Court , northeast England has cleared a police officer of some charges in a trial over serial rapes and related offences, and convicted him of others. Northumbria Police 's Police Constable Stephen Mitchell faced five counts of rape, six of indecent assault and 15 of misconduct in public office . He is guilty of two rapes, three indecent assaults and six counts of misconduct, with most of the sex charge convictions coming yesterday. However, "[my] world just crumbled before me" when he arrived at her door and stole her spare keys, she said. She claimed he regularly visited her Sunderland house when she was away and once left a knife embedded in her pillow. She testified her fear made her sleep beneath her bed. Her testimony stated the policeman used what he said was video evidence of her committing fraud at a Post Office and in 2003 said he was going to hand the tape over. She said when he arrived "[h]e was furious, he said I had disrespected him by not being in touch. I was trying to calm him down but he handcuffed me and said he was arresting me for fraud at the post office. He threw me over the settee, I couldn’t move with the handcuffs on, I was petrified. He said this is what you’ve wanted for a long time and he raped me." She moved to Durham shortly after. Hedworth likened the offer to a Monopoly "get out of jail free card" and claimed despite a warning his client was "running the risk of going to jail and going on the sex offender register", Mitchell chose to fight the allegations - a fact which demonstrated innocence. "What it means is: ‘Resign and this will go away’." The prosecution denied Northumbria Police were seeking to offer their colleague an alternative to investigation, stating the allegation - made during Hedworth's closing speech - was untrue and the recording did not indicate an offer to drop the probe. At least one of the misconduct charges he was convicted of was unrelated to indecent assault or rape; it concerned a drug-addicted woman caught with non-prescriped diazepam (valium) when her friend was arrested for shoplifting in 2003. Her testimony was that he stroked her leg and tried to kiss her in Pilgrim Street, returned the drugs upon her release, obtained her number and met her several times to give her drugs. She says although he asked to go at night to a hotel she refused, and ultimately she began ignoring his calls while he ceased supplying drugs.
A jury in , northeast England has cleared a police officer of some charges in a trial over serial rapes and related offences, and convicted him of others. 's Police Constable Stephen Mitchell faced five counts of rape, six of and 15 of . He is guilty of two rapes, three indecent assaults and six counts of misconduct, with most of the sex charge convictions coming yesterday. However, "[my] world just crumbled before me" when he arrived at her door and stole her spare keys, she said. She claimed he regularly visited her house when she was away and once left a knife embedded in her pillow. She testified her fear made her sleep beneath her bed. Her testimony stated the policeman used what he said was video evidence of her committing fraud at a Post Office and in 2003 said he was going to hand the tape over. She said when he arrived "[h]e was furious, he said I had disrespected him by not being in touch. I was trying to calm him down but he handcuffed me and said he was arresting me for fraud at the post office. He threw me over the settee, I couldn’t move with the handcuffs on, I was petrified. He said this is what you’ve wanted for a long time and he raped me." She moved to shortly after. Hedworth likened the offer to a "get out of jail free card" and claimed despite a warning his client was "running the risk of going to jail and going on the sex offender register", Mitchell chose to fight the allegations - a fact which demonstrated innocence. "What it means is: ‘Resign and this will go away’." The prosecution denied Northumbria Police were seeking to offer their colleague an alternative to investigation, stating the allegation - made during Hedworth's closing speech - was untrue and the recording did not indicate an offer to drop the probe. At least one of the misconduct charges he was convicted of was unrelated to indecent assault or rape; it concerned a drug-addicted woman caught with non-prescriped (valium) when her friend was arrested for shoplifting in 2003. Her testimony was that he stroked her leg and tried to kiss her in Pilgrim Street, returned the drugs upon her release, obtained her number and met her several times to give her drugs. She says although he asked to go at night to a hotel she refused, and ultimately she began ignoring his calls while he ceased supplying drugs.
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Newcastle Crown Court
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Northumbria Police
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indecent assault
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misconduct in public office
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Sunderland
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Durham
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Monopoly
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diazepam