Thaindian News

London, Mar 16 (ANI): A married policeman in Britain is said to have howled like a baby after he was jailed for 12 months for having sex with a vulnerable woman while he was on duty.

At Exeter Crown Court, Nicholas Stone, who was working in the Devon and Cornwall force, was told by Judge Graham Cottle that he had abused his power as an officer of the law.

“A police officer in a small community enjoys the position of considerable power. It is a position that generally always means that the respect of the public is always enjoyed,” the Daily Mail quoted the judge as saying.

“Power can be abused and this case is the story of an extremely unattractive abuse of power that your status gave you to take advantage of a vulnerable young woman,” he said.

The judge said that a police officer breaching his duty damages the trust of the public, but the way two of his superior officers handled the case was “perfectly shameful”.

He slammed the two and said they subjected the victim to a “degrading and humiliating experience with no lawful justification” after summoning her to the police station.

Stone had been cleared by a jury after a trial of raping the woman in a dark alley in Tiverton, Devon, 18 months after their affair ended and he was also acquitted on two charges of wilful misconduct in public office.

But the judge said he believed the account of the victim, a mother of three, but said he interpreted the jury’s verdict as being unsure that the test of wilful misconduct had been met - and cleared him.

The jury did convict him of one charge of misconduct in public office while working as a police officer after last week’s trial.

Stone was working as a constable in the Devon and Cornwall force when he started an affair with the mother-of-one while based in Tiverton in May 1999.

The woman told the jury that they had sex when he was in uniform on the stairs of her house before being called away by a radio message from his control room.

She told Exeter Crown Court that he had his trousers round his ankles when his radio call came in as they romped at her home.

Judge Cottle said Stone had seen her with a bunch of flowers and followed her to her home to confront her as to who had sent the flowers to her - and they ended up kissing and having sex on the stairs before he was called away by his radio.

Stone said he had a consensual sexual relationship with his lover but he had always finished his duties before meeting her for sex.

The judge said Stone “pestered and harassed” the mother-of-three and did not accept that it was “a consensual sexual relationship over a number of months”.

The prosecution claimed he had become “obsessive and possessive” towards the woman during their affair - which happened just two years after Stone wed and as his first child was born.

The judge also said that Stone repeatedly told her to “keep her mouth shut” about their affair - which she did when confronted by his bosses.

He said another officer, who was never identified, went to the woman’s house to molest her but backed off when she said her boyfriend was a policeman. The unknown officer called her a “dirty f****** whore”.

Stone, a father-of-two, from Pitminster, near Taunton, Somerset, had denied rape and three charges of misconduct in public office.

“Nick Stone was in a position of trust and he chose to abuse this privileged position. He has acted without any professionalism,” Detective Inspector Sam De Reya, of Devon and Cornwall police, said.

“We hope this case shows how both agencies (the police and CPS) will take all allegations of misconduct, regardless of the time lapse, seriously.

“I would like to praise the victim of this case who has acted with dignity and courage throughout this time and now hope she can begin to move on with her life,” he added. (ANI)