Former police officer denies raping woman

A former police officer has gone on trial accused of raping a woman multiple times at his flat after a night out.

Lewis McCracken was described by the woman as "quite a strong guy" in a police video interview played to jurors at Peterborough Crown Court.

The woman said the 27-year-old grabbed the back of her hair, and she "said 'Lewis, no' repeatedly, maybe four, five times to the point my neck felt like it was going to snap".

Mr McCracken, of Bedfordshire Police, denies three counts of rape and two of sexually assaulting the woman.

The alleged offences are said to have happened at Mr McCracken's flat in Bedford in November 2022 when he was still a police officer.

The woman said they had been on a night out where they visited pubs, and that she and a male friend had tried to walk to the train station to go home at the end of the night but "didn't know where we were going".

She said Mr McCracken, who was more familiar with the area, walked with them and "while walking back he pointed out a door, said 'that's my flat, I need a wee"'.

The woman said they went into Mr McCracken's flat so he could use the toilet, and her friend sat on the sofa and "fell asleep instantly".

The court heard how Mr McCracken suggested the woman could sleep at his flat.

The woman said Mr McCracken kept picking up her hand and putting it on him, and she "didn't know how to stop this and I felt very trapped".

She said she told him "Lewis, you've got a girlfriend" and "he didn't respond".

Simon Ward, prosecuting, said the woman "kept saying no but he just ignored her".

The woman said there was a first incident, then a second later on when she was "woken up to Lewis grabbing the back of my hair".

"He was too strong for her, he's a powerful, well-built man," the barrister said.

Asked in a police interview why she did not leave the flat, the woman said she was "sort of frozen in that moment".

She said she had three alcoholic drinks at a first pub and more at a second pub earlier that night and "felt merry, I felt tipsy" but "could walk in a straight line, I wasn't slurring my words".

The trial, estimated to last five days, continues.

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