An on-duty GMP constable raped a young student in her home after she called the police when her former boyfriend threatened to share photos of her online, a court has heard.
The alleged victim, then aged 20, had asked the police for help after her then partner had threatened to put the scantily clad photos of her on the internet. Greater Manchester Police officer James Andrew Darnton, known as Andy, arrived at her home with a colleague and left his card and personal phone number with her, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
She later called him to find out what was happening and Darnton, who had smirked when he saw the photographs, returned, this time alone, a jury was told.
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In a recorded interview played to the court the woman, now aged 35, said he offered to get her a glass of water when she became upset and then followed her into the kitchen and utility room.
“I could feel his presence behind me and I was thinking this is not going to end with me getting a glass of water. He followed me into the utility room. I turned round and he was right there and he kissed me, really kissed me, quite intensely kissed me," she said.
“He grabbed my breasts and squeezed and then turned me around and lent me over the worktop where the washing machine was underneath."
The woman, who was planning a legal career, said she thought, "he must be doing it because he cares about me, it must be because he likes me."
“I don’t remember him saying anything to me, he was holding me down. I just went really quiet. I wasn’t making any sexual noises, I was just waiting for it to finish," she said.
She said Darnton then began talking about her complaint about her ex partner and said: “It’s just your word against his. You are from a broken home, you are a brown person, no-one will listen.”
Darnton, now 53, allegedly said he would contact the victim again, however left and never returned. He faces one charge of rape between June 4 and July 1, 2009 which he denies.
Opening the prosecution case Owen Edwards, KC, told the jury of six men and six women that the alleged offence came to light when police visited the woman at her home in West Yorkshire in October 2021.
This was part of an investigation into an allegation of rape by a man she had met on a dating website but it did not lead to a prosecution. After making it clear that she did not want to deal with a male officer at the time, she then claimed that 15 years earlier, Darnton had raped her.
"While she described herself as confused there is no doubt that she was not consenting in any meaningful way" Mr Edwards told the court. “She was a student aged 20 in her family home asking for help from a 38-year-old police officer. On any view his actions were in gross breach of his duties as a public officer.
Where to go if you've been affected by rape or sexual assault
- Saint Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Manchester provides a comprehensive and co-ordinated response to men, women and children who live, or have been sexually assaulted, within Greater Manchester. They offer forensic medical examinations, practical and emotional support as well as a counselling service for all ages. Services are available on a 24-hour basis and can be accessed by calling 0161 276 6515.
- Greater Manchester Rape Crisis is a confidential information, support and counselling service run by women for women over 18 who have been raped or sexually abused at any time in their lives. Call on 0161 273 4500 or email help@manchesterrapecrisis.co.uk
- We Are Survivors provides specialist trauma informed support to male victims in Greater Manchester who have experienced sexual abuse, rape or sexual exploitation. Call 0161 236 2182 for help.
- Always call 999 in an emergency
“She explained that she had never felt able to reveal this incident and had planned to keep it to herself. The prosecution's case is that she is simply telling the truth.
“The defendant was interviewed. He said that he had no real recollection because of the passage of time. He accepts that from records he visited her on two occasions once to investigate her complaint and once because of her choosing to withdraw her complaint.
“He accepts that it would be profoundly wrong to have sexual intercourse with a young woman while investigating her complaint. He denies any such sexual contact.”
Mr Edwards told the jury how it is claimed that Mr Darnton raped her “and then returned to discussing the situation with her ex as if nothing had happened."
"He was a man in a position of power dealing with an attractive and vulnerable 20-year-old who was seeking his help. He literally took advantage of her and ignored the fact that she was not consenting,” he alleged.
Mr Edwards said that in a later third police video interview the victim told how she had since remembered that she had called Darnton after she discovered four bullets left in her bedroom by her ex, and he had given her his personal phone number.
“He visited her house shortly after the call. She handed him the bullets which he placed in his pocket repeating that he would sort it. There is no record of the defendant taking possession of these bullets.
“We suggest that the reporting of the bullets provided the defendant with an opportunity to sexually exploit her knowing full well how vulnerable she was. She was reluctant to make a complaint against her ex-partner through fear and yet she was anxious to receive police help.
“Instead of investigating the matter properly he took the chance to take his own sexual pleasure, rightly assuming that she would not make a formal complaint about him,” claimed Mr Edwards.
“The defendant continues to say that her account is a complete invention. It is suggested that this is an allegation made by an unreliable and inconsistent witness years after the event,” he added.
Mr Edwards said that when quizzed the defendant said that at the time of the alleged offence he was living with a woman whom he subsequently married.
“He doubted that he would have provided that phone number to this complainant. He could think of no reason at all as to why she should choose to lie about him in this way,” said Mr Edwards.
The case continues.
