Jury retires in trial of policeman accused of rape

Police officer David Stansbury has pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape between October 23 and November 30 2009.

The jury in the trial of a police officer accused of raping a woman has retired to consider verdicts.

David Stansbury, 43, is alleged to have raped a woman having initially visited her Plymouth home to respond to an attempted break-in.

Mr Stansbury, of Ilminster, Somerset, pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape between 23 October and 30 November 2009.

Judge William Hart sent the jury to consider verdicts on Tuesday afternoon.

Bristol Crown Court heard Mr Stansbury, who was an officer with Devon and Cornwall Police at the time, had been called to the woman's address and took her statement after a suspect had tried to smash her door in.

Personal records accessed

The alleged victim told the court she believed the first of three assaults started within days of her original 999 call, when she was drunk and had drugs in her home.

After spotting drugs in the house, he allegedly told her she should not be doing that and said: "I'm the law" before he raped her, she claimed.

The allegations came to light after the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was arrested at a disturbance in 2020 and she told the officers she had been assaulted.

She said she did not contact police earlier because she was afraid and, as a drug and alcohol user, her family would be taken away.

Mr Stansbury told the court he did not rape the woman and said he did not remember her or the attempted break-in at her home.

Prosecution barrister Virginia Cornwall said Mr Stansbury had accessed her personal records on a number of occasions and GPS data suggested he returned to the complainant's street multiple times.

Mr Stansbury said he may have been on the alleged victim's street to "provide reassurance" to her and the community through an increased police presence.

He also said looking at logs related to her would have been "necessary for the job" he was doing at the time.

Mr Stansbury is currently a sergeant serving with Hertfordshire Police and has been suspended from duty.

The trial continues.