West Midlands Police officer raped woman after groping her in beer garden on first date, court hears

A police officer raped a woman after groping her on their first date and sexually assaulted another victim he met on Match.com, a court has heard.

Michael Darbyshire, 55, attacked the women to demonstrate ‘control, power and to satisfy his own sexual cravings and demands,’ jurors were told.

The West Mercia Police officer is accused of sexually assaulting the first woman on November 8, 2018, before raping her the next day.

In her police statement, the victim told how Darbyshire molested her in the beer garden of the White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, Worcestershire.

She said she met Darbyshire for a drink after being introduced to him a few days earlier by a mutual friend who worked for the police.

She said: ‘I had gone out for a smoke. All of a sudden his mouth went straight over mine. I could feel his teeth and tongue at the back. It was forceful.

‘He put his hands down my trousers. I was shocked. He wouldn’t listen, I kept saying no, I felt trapped. I didn’t want to die, didn’t want him to threaten me.

‘I make excuses for people [after drinking], I kept thinking ”that can’t be him”, he is a police officer.’

Michael Darbyshire (right), 55, attacked the women to demonstrate ‘control, power and to satisfy his own sexual cravings and demands,’ jurors were told

The West Mercia Police officer (pictured) is accused of sexually assaulting the first woman on November 8, 2018, before raping her the next day

Later that night, jurors heard Darbyshire drank-drove to her home where she let him in.

In her police interview, she said: ‘He seemed all right, I thought I’m going to have to let him in.

‘He seemed really nice, it did not feel uncomfortable at that stage. I said I was going to bed, I said nothing was going to happen.’

She said she woke up to find Darbyshire sexually assaulting her which she said was ‘painful’ leaving her ‘sore and bruised’.

She said Darbyshire called her ‘dirty’ along with other derogatory language. The victim said: ‘I told him to stop, it was like I wasn’t talking to anybody.

‘When you say no to somebody it means no. No is no.’ She said got up and realised Darbyshire had blocked her car in with his own.

She said: ‘I panicked then, I thought he knows what he is doing. I felt trapped. He went ”come on I haven’t finished with you”.’

In her police statement, the victim told how Darbyshire molested her in the beer garden of the White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, Worcestershire (general view pictured)

She said Darbyshire then ‘forcefully’ raped her on the bed leaving her feeling like she ‘had been cut inside’.

Worcester Crown Court heard the victim confided in her friend who had introduced them and the police were called.

Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, said Darbyshire sexually assaulted a second woman on August 29, 2019, after he met her on dating site Match.com.

He said: ‘The offences were of a similar nature. He accompanied his actions with what can best be summarised as humiliating abuse.

‘That is significant because it demonstrates what this activity was about. It was all about control, power and satisfying his own sexual cravings and demands.’

Darbyshire’s address is not being released after he received death threats from a person who followed him in his car and made cut-throat gestures to him.

He denies one count of rape and five counts of sexual assault. The trial, which is expected to last six days, continues.