Yorkshire police officer accused of subjecting drunk woman to ‘violent rape’ at his house

PC Rowan Horrocks is accused of raping the woman twice, biting her repeatedly and pulling out a clump of her hair during the alleged assault in November 2021. Leeds Crown Court heard Horrocks, 27, knew the complainant and the pair had exchanged "flirtatious" messages in the weeks leading up to the incident.

Jurors were told the woman had been out with her friend on the night of the alleged rape and had drank at least a bottle of wine as well as vodka and Sambuca shots.

Prosecutor Gillian Batts said the complainant "had been drinking over a prolonged period" and was "in no fit state to consent to anything".

She told jurors Horrocks repeatedly messaged the woman throughout the night to ask her to come back to his house and was "persistent", eventually paying £87 for a taxi to pick her up and take her to his home in Rotherham at around 3am.

In an interview with police officers played in court, the woman said she told Horrocks three times she had no intention of having sex with him and thought they were going to "just chill out". The victim said she had lost her purse earlier that night and had no way of getting home.

"(My friend) asked me to go back to his but Rowan was trying to persuade me otherwise. I don't know why I didn't think at this point, why is he so eager?" she told officers. "I knew Rowan, I knew where he worked. There was a level of trust, I didn't anticipate anything like this would happen."

She added: "If I hadn't been intoxicated I think I would have picked up that something wasn't quite right." The court heard that at one point the woman told Horrocks she was "absolutely p****d up".

In another exchange, Horrocks asked if she was going to his house or if she was "going to bottle it" and she responded that she was "drunk and wasn't prepared for sex," Ms Batts said.

"The prosecution says the reference to her bottling it put pressure on her at a time when she was drunk and vulnerable."

Ms Batts said Horrocks had shown "premeditated, predatory behaviour" towards a "drunk young woman who he knew was attracted to him".

The court heard the woman remembered feeling sick and being unable to speak during the taxi ride to his house and has only "snapshots" of memories after they arrived. She told police she remembered lying on the bed trying to get to sleep when Horrocks pushed her onto her back.

"I don't even remember how it started, it's just like, snapshots," she said. "At one point Rowan was pulling my hair, it really hurt but I couldn't physically say anything. I couldn't say no. I was crying, I just wanted it to stop but I physically couldn't get the words out of my mouth."

She also said she remembered Horrocks biting her "really hard", and described it as "painful". The woman said at some point Horrocks tried to move her but she "just fell forward" because she was "like jelly".

She sobbed as she told officers: "I've been over this so many times, what could I have done to stop this, and I just feel stupid because I couldn't do anything."

Jurors were shown pictures of the victim the day after she spent the night at Horrocks's house, with bruising to her neck and breasts.

The court heard the next morning she saw a clump of her own hair next to the bed, which was later recovered and forensically examined by police.

Jurors were told the woman sent Horrocks a photo of her injuries with the caption "you annihilated me".

He replied: "Oh dear."

Ms Batts said: "This is not something which is sometimes described as rough sex. The prosecution say this was deliberate infliction of pain upon the complainant."

Horrocks was arrested and provided a prepared statement saying the woman seemed "merry and not drunk" and that he had "asked her for consent at each stage".

"His case is that she was a willing participant and she effectively made up this allegation because he used her for sex," Ms Batts said.

Horrocks, who denies, two counts of rape, was suspended by South Yorkshire Police and internal misconduct proceedings are also underway.

The trial continues.