Mark Tyrrell from Meltham denies 17 sex offences including rape
(Image: cheekylorns via Getty Images)
A former police officer accused of raping a sleeping woman was specially trained in dealing with sex offence victims, his trial has heard.
Mark Tyrrell, who was serving in the Metropolitan Police at the time, has denied two counts of rape, 11 of sexual assault and four of assault by penetration against one woman during the course of around two years. Opening the trial on Tuesday, prosecutor Catherine Farrelly KC told Southwark Crown Court that the defendant, 57, was trained in Sexual Offences Investigation Techniques (SOIT).
She claimed Tyrrell “emotionally bullied and manipulated (the alleged victim) to try and satisfy his sexual needs”. When she resisted his sexual advances “he simply chose to take what he wanted, the majority of the times when she was asleep and with no choice about whether she wanted him to touch her or not”, Ms Farrelly added.
Concerns were raised after officers attended the alleged victim’s address for a separate matter and found the police officer hiding by the side of her bed, the court heard. Later, Tyrrell called her and claimed nothing sexual had happened, the court heard.
In another, he suggested she claim to be a lesbian and that he is “not her type”.
The defendant, of Meltham, West Yorkshire, is further accused of perverting the course of justice by attempting to delete messages with the woman.
One said: “I’m sorry x. For being a sex offender. For being a c***. And for ruining your life by being in it.
“I’m good at doing that to people. (Not the sex offender bit, the ruining people’s lives bit.) And for being a c***.”
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The woman, who cannot be identified as she is the alleged victim of a sexual offence, told him not to say such things and he replied: “They’re true. And I’m an arsehole.” The defendant is accused of raping the woman by having sex with her after she repeatedly said no.
He then allegedly told her “I don’t believe what’s just happened”, and “do you realise that what I’ve just done, that was rape?”. He said that he’d been out of order and was going to report himself and would undoubtedly go to prison,” the prosecution told jurors.
The woman has further claimed that on multiple occasions she woke to find Tyrrell penetrating her, even after she had said no to sex the night before. After waking to find him touching her on one occasion, she asked what happened and “he began shouting at her, asking her if she realised what she was saying and what could happen to him”, the prosecutor said.
The woman kept a list of incidents with Tyrrell that included alleged sex attacks, the court heard. During a police interview, she explained that “she had felt pressured by him and had feared that no-one would believe her about the allegations, as she feared she couldn’t prove it and was worried that the police would protect him as he was a police officer”, the prosecution told jurors.
After his arrest, Tyrrell denied ever having sexual intercourse with her. The defendant has previously admitted misconduct in a public office. He has also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice by persuading the woman to lie to the police about why he was in her bedroom.
Proceeding
