Police officer to stand trial charged with rape

A police officer is to stand trial charged with raping two women – including allegedly attacking one while in his uniform.

Blair Pettigrew, 34, yesterday faced the accusations during a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow. The indictment spans between 2005 and 2015.

It is claimed Pettigrew, of Ardrossan, raped a woman at a house in East Ayrshire. The accusation – said to have occurred between August 2013 and April 2015 – states it took place while he was “in police uniform”.

The charge includes claims he threatened to expose details of the woman’s “private life” and for officers to search her parents’ home if she did not agree to sexual activity.

The indictment also alleges Pettigrew raped a second woman between 2006 and 2007 in Glasgow.

Judge Lord Beckett set a trial to begin in January.