COP ‘MADE GIRL, 17, PERFORM SEX ACT IN PATROL CAR’

He asked teen victim how many boys she’d slept with, court told

A UNIFORMED cop forced a 17-year-old to give him oral sex in a patrol car after the victim had been kicked out of her house, a court heard yesterday.

Declan Gabriel, an officer with Northamptonshire Police, claimed the teen made a grab for his crotch as he adjusted his underpants at the roadside in the early hours.

But prosecutors said the 28-year-old concocted a “fanciful account” to explain his behaviour in September 2015.

A few hours into his night shift, Gabriel was called to an incident in Northampton, where he picked up the vulnerable youngster and took her to the police station.

But rather than find her a safe place, he drove her around in his unmarked car for two hours when it is alleged he orally raped and also twice sexually assaulted the girl.

Prosecutor Matthew Lowe told Northampton Crown Court: “We say he has taken advantage, not simply of his role as a police officer, but of the position he found himself in on that morning with that 17-year-old girl.

“When interviewed he’s come up with a fanciful account to explain away what he feared, because of the result of scientific examination.”

Gabriel was initially “really nice”, according to the victim, asking if she was cold and telling her to sit in his Ford Focus.

He drove her to his police station, leaving the girl in the vehicle before returning to chat.

In an interview, she said: “He was asking me about boys, how many people I’d slept with, how long was it after I’d met them did I sleep with them.”

She added she thought it was “just his way”.

Mr Lowe added: “He went on to boast he’d slept with someone after only 10 minutes of meeting them.”

Gabriel also asked for her Twitter name and then followed her from his official police work account.

In order to find a place to stay that night, the victim asked Gabriel to drive to a friend’s address with her in the passenger seat.

Mr Lowe said Gabriel “took a circuitous route” then slowly drove past the house without stopping.

Crotch

The officer then parked in a layby and there, said Mr Lowe: “The defendant reached over, grabbed her hand, putting it on his crotch area over his penis.

He added: “This was something that happened to her completely out of the blue, from somebody supposed to be protecting her.”

Again, Gabriel drove the girl past the friend’s home but did not stop, instead driving into the countryside some distance from his operational patch.

He parked in a gateway where it is alleged he again took his victim’s hand and placed it over the crotch of his trousers, “but this time things went further” added Mr Lowe.

He is then accused of a raping his victim by “coercing her into giving him oral sex” as he sat in the driver’s seat.

Gabriel then took the girl back to her friend’s home and left her there.

The teenager later told friends but said Gabriel’s job was “important” and she did not want to get him in trouble.

When he was arrested, Gabriel told police they had a sexual conversation but “just talked”.

Parked in the gateway, Mr Lowe said Gabriel claimed he pushed away the girl after she grabbed him when he partially undid his trousers to adjust his underwear.

Gabriel, who is suspended, denies the charges and one count of misconduct in a public office.

The trial continues.