Lincoln: Sex was consensual, rape-accused ex-PC tells court

The pair met in Home nightclub in Lincoln during a night out with friends, a court heard

An ex-Lincolnshire Police officer who is accused of raping a woman has told a court the sex they had was consensual.

Frazer McDowall, 24, denies raping the 20-year-old woman following a night out in Lincoln while he was an off-duty probationary PC in October 2021.

Giving evidence, he told Nottingham Crown Court they had consensual sex in her home after she was sick.

He told jurors he had felt "disgusted" afterwards for cheating on his girlfriend of two years.

Mr McDowall, of Ryland Road, Welton, admitted to the jury he had resigned from the Lincolnshire force over "derogatory" messages he had sent over WhatsApp about the complainant as well as about colleagues and the public.

He told the court he was "having a laugh" in the messages he had sent.

Prosecutor Samuel Skinner told the jury that in one message Mr McDowall had sent the day after the alleged incident, he had described the complainant as "horrible".

Mr McDowall had also claimed in text messages that she was "following me around" and "annoying", Mr Skinner said.

In another message, he had called a colleague a "weirdo", the prosecutor added.

Mr McDowall would have been sacked from the Lincolnshire force for gross misconduct over the messages if he had not quit, the court heard.

Frazer McDowall was a probationary police officer at Lincolnshire Police

Jurors were shown CCTV footage of Mr McDowall and the woman, who had met on a night out on 15 October, in Lincoln's Home nightclub before leaving for a strip bar.

They were seen buying drinks there before getting into a taxi to the woman's home.

Mr McDowall told the court he agreed to go back there even though he did not want to.

CCTV cameras near the victim's home captured images of the woman bent over by a hedge before the pair walked off.

The court heard that Mr McDowall had sent a message saying: "My mate's girlfriend is being sick and I want to get out of here."

He told the jury they had kissed in the hallway of the woman's home before he was invited into her bedroom.

Jurors heard they had sex and the whole encounter lasted about 19 minutes before Mr McDowall left her home at about 05:00 GMT.

Prosecutor Mr Skinner told the court the woman was too drunk to have consented to sex.

"The complainant could barely walk in a straight line. She was intoxicated," he said.

But Mr McDowall replied: "She was no worse than what I was."

The trial continues.