A woman repeatedly said “stop” as she was allegedly assaulted and raped by a police officer in the sea off Brighton beach, a jury was told yesterday (Wednesday 21 June).
The woman said that she reminded Sergeant Laurence Knight, 34, that he was on his stag do and “repeatedly” told him to stop during the alleged encounter in the early hours of Saturday 17 July 2021.
It happened after the stranger – whose nickname she believed was “Larry” – had told her that his stag do was turning into a disappointment.
But, he said, he was “excited” to get married in a couple of weeks and wanted to do something that was fun, a jury was told at Southwark Crown Court, in London.
Recalling the time when the situation became intimate, she said in her police interview: “I would like to say that I was really angry and pushed him off but I did not.
“I remember saying, ‘Stop! You are getting married in two weeks. Stop!’ I was stern, I guess. I was saying stop.”
She later told the police that the stranger stayed silent during the alleged incident, adding: “He did not say anything when I said, ‘You can’t do this. What are you doing? Stop!’”
Knight, of Albert Road, in Leyton, Waltham Forest, east London, denies rape and sexual assault. The Met said that he had been suspended from duty.
After the alleged incident, the complainant said that a friend of the defendant told the woman: “Larry wants me to tell you that he’s sorry.”
The woman later told the police: “It happened so quickly and was so out of the blue, I just did not know what to say.”
The woman had earlier been out for dinner and drinks and was with a friend when they came across a “jovial” group of boys who seemed confused about where to go as they were on a night out and the pubs were closing, the court heard.
She said that she would not describe herself as being but “a bit more than tipsy”.
The two groups ended up walking to the seafront together.
She told officers in her police interview that “Larry” said: “I do not want it to be a rubbish stag do. I want to do something that’s fun.”
In recalling the chat that they had before the alleged incident, she said: “He was talking about getting married, said he was really looking forward to it. He said he was really excited. ”
She said the man added: “I’m annoyed that we cannot go anywhere else. I just wanted to make it a good stag.”
She responded that he could not have expected anything better as his group had not booked anywhere else to go to and all the venues were shut.
He got undressed and she took her dress off down to her underwear and they got into the water, leaving the rest of the group behind.
The defendant looked like he was going to cry so the woman said, yes, and took off her dress as she did not want it to get wet, the jury heard.
They were probably about “seven or eight metres” away from the rest of the group and had been chatting and treading water before the alleged incident happened, she claimed.
The woman said that she did not respond when the defendant’s friend said sorry because she did not want “to engage” with them.
She got dressed, then told her friend what had happened and called 999.
The alleged victim said that she had experienced a range of feelings since that night in the water including times when has felt sick and unable to sleep or eat properly.
Describing herself as “just emotional,” she told the police: “(I have been) crying all the time, a bit angry that I cannot remember anything more, that I can not do anything more to find him.
“He’s getting married and that makes me really, really angry – a bit naive, I guess.”
Noting that her friend had been on the beach near by, she added: “He could have helped if I had shouted or something, or anything, so I do not understand why I did not do that.
“I’m just confused. It sounds like a cop out.”
She said that the alleged incident did “not fit into the image” that people have of an assault or a rape, adding: “I was having a lovely evening. It was not like I was dragged down an alley.”
The hearing was adjourned until today (Thursday 22 June).
