Wakefield officer read of child-abuse reports against him on police log, court told
He called the claims “nonsense”
A police officer on trial for child-abuse allegations said he was “shocked” after reading about them on the West Yorkshire Police log.
PC Marcus Newbold is charged with seven offences, including rape, dating back to the late 2000s, when he was only 12.
The victim was just four-years-old when the alleged abuse began, Leeds Crown Court heard.
On day three of the 29-year-old’s trial, Newbold gave evidence and told the jury that he read about the accusations on the official police log, to which officers had access.
Newbold said he was “not surprised” that complaints had been made, due to issues that cannot be disclosed, but conceded he was left shocked and that it “took a while to sink in”.
However, he told the court he “thought it would all blow over” because he said the complaints were “nonsense”.
He was eventually charged with seven offences - one of rape of a child, three of sexual assault of a child, one of assaulting a child by penetration and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Quizzed by his barrister, Rachel Stenton, about each alleged incident and if he had committed them, he replied: “Absolutely not.”
He later said he found the idea of being attracted to children as being “absurd”.
Asked why he gave a no-comment interview to police during a voluntary interview, he said it was on the advice of the solicitor assigned to him at that time.
Newbold, of Lime Close, Normanton, said he had long dreamt of a job in the services, first becoming a PCSO before completing training to become a constable for West Yorkshire Police.
He worked in the Kirklees division and told the court he felt “really proud” to be an officer. He was suspended from his job after the allegations were made.
Earlier in the trial, the jury was told that the alleged victim claimed Newbold would suggest they “play games” which involved the abuse.
He allegedly told her it was “their little secret”, and suggested it would be her that gets into trouble if anyone found out.
The girl said she even felt like she had done something wrong when the abuse stopped.
She only told another person about Newbold when she was 16, but no action was taken. A number of years later she told a second person about her experiences and Newbold, it was claimed, was confronted.
It is alleged Newbold, at that point, acknowledged that “something had gone on”, prosecutor Eddison Flint said.
However, Newbold denies that conversation took place.
The trial, which is expected to last five days, continues.