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Police officer 'raped woman after groping her in beer garden'

West Mercia Police Constable Michael Darbyshire, 52, leaves Worcester Crown Court where after facing charges of rape and five counts of sexual assault, his force has said. The PC, who is based at Worcester Police Station, has been suspended from his role. (Photo by Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)
West Mercia Police Constable Michael Darbyshire, 52, leaves Worcester Crown Court. (Getty)

A police officer raped a woman after groping her in a beer garden and sexually assaulted another victim he met on a dating website, a court heard.

Michael Darbyshire, 55, is accused of attacking the women to demonstrate "control, power and to satisfy his own sexual cravings and demands”.

The West Mercia Police officer denies one count of rape and five counts of sexual assault and is facing trial at Worcester Crown Court.

Darbyshire allegedly sexually assaulted the first woman on 8 November, 2018, before raping her the next day.

West Mercia Police Constable Michael Darbyshire, 52, arrives at Worcester Crown Court today. Darbyshire is charged with rape and five counts of sexual assault. (Photo by Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)
Michael Darbyshire denies one count of rape and five counts of sexual assault. (Getty)

In her police statement, she told how Darbyshire molested her in the beer garden of the White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, Worcestershire.

She said she met him for a drink after being introduced to him a few days earlier by a mutual friend who worked for the police.

She said: “I had gone out for a smoke. All of a sudden his mouth went straight over mine.

“I could feel his teeth and tongue at the back. It was forceful."

She said he put her hands down her trousers which shocked her, adding: “He wouldn’t listen, I kept saying no, I felt trapped.

“I didn’t want to die, didn’t want him to threaten me.

“I make excuses for people [after drinking], I kept thinking ‘that can’t be him’, he is a police officer.”

Jurors heard Darbyshire drank-drove to her home later that night where she let him in.

In her police interview, she added: “He seemed alright, I thought I’m going to have to let him in.

"He seemed really nice, it did not feel uncomfortable at that stage.

“I said I was going to bed, I said nothing [any sexual activity] was going to happen.”

She said she woke up to find Darbyshire sexually assaulting her, which she said was “painful”, leaving her “sore and bruised”.

She said Darbyshire called her “dirty” along with other derogatory language.

She said: “I told him to stop, it was like I wasn’t talking to anybody.

“When you say no to somebody it means no. No is no.”

She said she got up and realised Darbyshire had blocked her car with his own and “panicked” and “thought he knows what he is doing”.

She added: “He went ‘come on I haven’t finished with you’.”

WORCESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 28:  General view of Worcester Crown Court where six men and one woman are appearing after being charged for an acid attack on a 3-year-old on August 28, 2018. They appear charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm over an acid attack on a three-year-old child on July 21 at Home Bargains on Shrub Hill Retail Park, Tallow Hill, Worcester in Worcester, England.  (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)
Michael Darbyshire appeared at Worcester Crown Court. (Getty)

She said Darbyshire then “forcefully” raped her on the bed, leaving her feeling like she “had been cut inside”.

The court heard the woman confided in her friend who had introduced them and the police were called.

Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, said Darbyshire sexually assaulted a second woman on 29 August, 2019, after he met her on dating site Match.com.

He said: “The offences were of a similar nature.

“He accompanied his actions with what can best be summarised as humiliating abuse.

“That is significant because it demonstrates what this activity was about.

“It was all about control, power and satisfying his own sexual cravings and demands."

The trial, which is expected to last six days, continues.