A Sussex Police officer sexually assaulted another PC and tried to rape her at a hotel in Kent while they were away on a training course, a jury was told today.
Daniel Julian, 46, had just a towel wrapped round his waist when he shoulder-barged his way into his colleague’s bedroom and pinned her against a wall.
He had already tried to lure her to his room, saying that he had no toothpaste, and grabbed her when she went to lend him hers, the court heard.
And Julian took her to the floor of her hotel bedroom and straddled her and pressed himself against her as he was repeatedly asked to “get off me” by his fellow officer.
But he wouldn’t listen, according to the 34-year-old PC whose identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons.
Julian, of Church Lane, Bury, Pulborough, was based at Littlehampton when he went on the training course at the Metropolitan Police Tactical Training Centre, in Gravesend, Kent, in August 2021.
He denies three charges – attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual activity without consent.
Julie Whitby, prosecuting, played a formal video interview to the jury at Lewes Crown Court this afternoon (Monday 8 April).
In the video, the female officer said that she thought she was about to be raped even as she tried to persuade Julian to leave her room.
She said: “I know this may sound stupid but … I was just screaming for my dad in my head.”
Her phone had been knocked under her bed and she managed to start a recording which Miss Whitby said was faint but would be played to the jury.
The prosecutor added: “She told him ‘you need to get off me’.
“When she was moving her head to avoid his attempts to kiss her, she saw her phone on the floor and was able to discreetly start recording on her camera function, fearing that she was about to be raped.
“He saw the light from her phone and asked what she was doing and pinned her arm down.
“She replied that she thought her friend was calling her. The screen went dark and he said: ‘Oh, you haven’t answered.’ She said no.
“He tried to pull her jogging bottoms down, causing her to bang her head on the bed as he did so. He was pressing himself against her and tried to pull the sheet off her.
“She kept saying ‘no’ and ‘please go’ but he wasn’t listening. She was partially under the bed and hit her head trying to get out or away from him.
“She noticed he was touching himself. He was standing above her. She was sat and then curled up because he was trying to kiss her again and she didn’t want that.
“He was touching her shoulders, saying it was a massage, but it was strong and hurting her. He kept trying to touch her breast area.
“Parts of the conversation were recorded, including her saying no, him asking to see her boob and also some of the moments where they seemed to chat or to laugh together.
“The recording and the messages accord with the complainant’s account.”
In her police interview, the complainant said that she had tried to keep things light-hearted and laughed because she was nervous and didn’t know what to do.
She was left with bruising from the incident and a scratch on her chest as noticeably upset afterwards, the jury was told.
Sussex Police said last year that Julian had been suspended from duty after he was charged with the three offences, all of which he denies.
The trial continues.
