Ben Lister: Woman had 'nightmares' after alleged rape by police officer

Sgt Ben Lister, of West Yorkshire Police, is accused of raping and sexually assaulting the woman in 2016

A woman has told a jury she had "nightmares" about what happened on the night she was allegedly raped by a serving police officer.

Ben Lister, a West Yorkshire Police sergeant, is alleged to have attacked her at a mutual friend's house in 2016 after they had been out drinking.

The woman told a jury at Bradford Crown Court she had tried to push Sgt Lister away, but felt "trapped" by him.

Sgt Lister, 36, denies one count of rape and one of assault by penetration.

Prosecutors allege Sgt Lister pulled the woman off a sofa while she was asleep, before touching her sexually as she was drifting in and out of consciousness.

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On Tuesday, jurors watched a police video interview in which the woman told an officer she was "paralytic" after the night out in Bradford and "passed out on the couch" at a friend's house.

She said she remembered being dragged off the sofa and Sgt Lister's hand being on her chest.

She told police: "I don't remember much after that because I think I blacked out, but I remember seeing his face on top of me.

"I had nightmares about it. Just his head above me and his hands on my chest."

Following the alleged attack she "pretended to be out of it" until he had gone and then she cried herself to sleep, the woman said.

The trial is taking place at Bradford Crown Court

She said when she asked Sgt Lister the following day if they had sex he said they had not, but he added they had engaged in some sexual activity.

The jury had previously heard that the woman had a child as a result of the alleged rape, with DNA tests later showing evidence he was the father.

The woman said she had claimed the father of her child was her ex-boyfriend, but she told police she knew Sgt Lister was the father because she had not had sex with anyone else for around a year previously.

She said she "saw his face" whenever she looked at her child.

She denied suggestions by defence barrister Laura Nash that she had engaged in consensual sexual activity with Sgt Lister and that she had lied about not being able to remember having sex with him.

The trial continues.

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