Hertfordshire Police officer accused of raping young girl

James Ford is on trial at Cambridge Crown Court

A police officer has gone on trial accused of raping a young girl before later deliberately wiping his phone, a court has heard.

James Ford, 31, works as a response officer for Hertfordshire Police and has been charged with 10 counts of sex offences against the same girl.

Cambridge Crown Court heard the alleged offences spanned late 2019 to late 2021.

Mr Ford, formerly of Bishop's Stortford, has denied the charges.

The charges include four counts of rape of a child under 13, two of assaulting a child under 13 by penetration, two of sexual assault against a child under 13 and two of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Prosecutors also allege Mr Ford did an act tending and intended to pervert the course of justice when he "deliberately wiped his phone by factory resetting his Samsung mobile phone".

Opening the case, prosecutor Isobel Ascherson told jurors that in a police interview Mr Ford denied the alleged offences.

She said he initially told police his phone reset had been "accidental", but later told them "he reset it because he was having an affair" with a woman.

The trial, which is expected to last seven to eight days, continues.