Ex-police officer jailed at Lewes Crown Court for rape

Derek Seekings was handed an 11-year prison sentence on Wednesday afternoon after being convicted of two counts of rape.

The 66-year-old inflicted “severe psychological harm” on his victim, Lewes Crown Court heard.

In a statement read out at Lewes Crown Court, the woman described the impact the attacks had on her.

She said: “I am nervous of phone numbers I do not know or when someone is unexpectedly at the door.”

She said the trial process had been “harrowing”.

Prosecutor Jennifer Gray said: “A clearly aggravating factor was the fact that the defendant was a serving police officer at the time, and count one took place while the defendant was on duty.”

Seekings was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court

Seekings served with Surrey Police until 2005.

A trial heard that he was suspended from duty for a number of months and demoted to Pc in the late 1990s following a car accident which led to a driving conviction.

Judge Stephen Mooney told Seekings: “I acknowledge that prison will be difficult for you both as an ex-police officer and the current conditions”.

Earlier in the trial, prosecutor Ms Gray told the jury that one of the alleged rapes took place while Seekings was on a break from work.

She said: “She made it very clear to him she didn’t want to have sex with him, he carried on regardless and he raped her.”

READ MORE: Derek Seekings on trial at Brighton Crown Court for rape

Former police officer on trial accused of raping woman while on duty

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was left “very upset and distressed about what had gone on”, the prosecutor said.

Seekings, of Farnborough, Hampshire, had been granted bail following his conviction but was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday.