PCSO ‘raped battered wife after promising to help her escape abusive husband’

Officer accused of offering assistance to domestic abuse victim in exchange for sexual favours

A PCSO raped a domestic abuse victim after offering to help her to escape her abuser in exchange for sexual favours, a court has heard.

Orhan Yigit, 40, told Leeds Crown Court, West Yorkshire, yesterday that he did not force himself upon her, and that she undid his trousers before sexual contact took place.

Earlier in the trial the court heard that Mr Yigit had befriended the husband of the victim and would visit the victim in full uniform on his police bike – often when her husband was out.

The court was told how Mr Yigit became aware she was being beaten by her husband and bribed her by offering to get her “into a nice refuge” in exchange for sexual favours. On one occasion he “forced his tongue down her throat” for 60-90 seconds and on another he allegedly stripped naked and appeared in her living room.

Ian Brooke, prosecuting, said on one occasion Mr Yigit appeared at the victim’s house under the pretence of surveilling drug activity at a neighbour’s house.

Mr Brooke said: “He then asked if he could go into the bedroom to get a better view. Once in there he turned around and said, ‘do me favours and I’ll do you a favour’. He knew how desperate she was to get out of her situation.”

He said “they could meet elsewhere and for everything she did he would make sure she got into a nice refuge. She was low and desperate”.

Mr Yigit told the court that his marriage was under strain at the time. He admitting exchanging text messages with the woman before going to her home in his uniform while off duty.

Mr Yigit said: “She was heavily made up and had tight jeans and a top on.” He said the woman then told him she was unhappy in her relationship with her husband and was sexually frustrated. He said the woman then undid his trousers before sexual contact took place.

James Littlehales, defending, asked: “Did you force yourself upon her?”

Mr Yigit replied: “No, I would never do that.”

Mr Yigit is also accused of sexually assaulting another woman who answered the door in her nightdress when he visited her home to investigate a vehicle theft. The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told the court that Mr Yigit hugged her and then slipped his hands under the straps of her dress and began rubbing her shoulders.

Mr Yigit denied any wrongdoing, claiming he put his arm around her to comfort her when she became upset.

Mr Yigit, of Castleford, West Yorkshire, denies rape, two charges of sexual assault and misconduct in a public office between 2015 and 2016.

The trial continues.