Sussex PCSO bragged about celebrity friends before raping woman

The woman said that before the attack she had felt safe going home with a policeman.

She told the court former Sussex Community Support Officer Jamal "Bertie" Robinson claimed he was an armed Met officer and worked at Gatwick Airport.

He put his number into her phone with a police emoji beside her name after saying he had two homes and had just got his dream job with the Met Police.

Robinson met the woman in a Brighton nightclub. He gave her his badge to hold and told her police could get free VIP treatment. He also sent her a picture of him in uniform.

He bragged about having homes in London and Brighton before taking the woman back to his mother’s flat in Worthing, the court heard.

The young woman told police: “I said I’m tired and it’s really late. I’m not in the mood, I’m cold.

“I put on his trackies and he took them off and had sex with me. He didn’t ask.

“I said it hurt, I pushed him and I said I’m tired, please let me sleep. I said I’m not in the mood for sex, I’m not in the mood for any of this, I literally said 'no'.

“I tried to sleep on the sofa. I just stayed quiet. I didn’t move. He went to have sex with me. I kept my eyes shut.

“I’ve been in this position so many times before. I usually just keep silent and get it over with and regret it the next day. It took me so long to be confident enough to say no.

“I thought he would listen, given who he was and what he does. He tried to undress me again. I said can you stop, I’ve already said no. He went silent.”

In police interview, the young woman said: “I was very firm. I said it hurts, I’m in pain, I’m tired, I need to go home.”

The woman said she told her friend: “He made me do things I didn’t want to do, I’m in so much pain. I think I’m going to cry.”

The woman, now 21, said she had drunk more than she normally would on a night out after having Christmas drinks at home with her family.

She said the officer approached her and her friend at the bar in a Brighton nightclub on Friday, December 13, 2019.

She said Robinson bragged about knowing YouTubers Conor Maynard and Caspar Lee.

He told the woman he was sending a video of them in the club to Conor Maynard before putting his number into her phone with a police emoji next to it.

“He just kept talking about being a police officer, showing us his badge, saying he had just got his dream job with the Met,” the woman said.

“He said we get free VIP there because we are police and he would get one of his police friends to give us a lift.”

The officer asked the women to go home with him and his friend.

“I had a chat with my friend,” the young woman said. “She was more cautious than I was. She said, come on they’re not going to break the law.”

The woman reported the rape after returning to college on Monday morning, the court heard. She said: “I didn’t want to say the word, I said he forced me to have sex.”

The woman said she lost faith in police after meeting Robinson.

“With the way he was behaving, blagging lifts getting VIP, I was even more disappointed.

“At one point he made me hold and carry his police badge,” she said.

Edward Hand, prosecuting, told the jury at Lewes Crown Court: “This case is about a small group of young people meeting up at night, going back to one of their houses.

“There comes a point where she says she doesn’t want any more sex and he carries on, that’s what this case is about.

“She agreed to sexual contact, reluctantly.

“The allegation in this case is she didn’t consent and he would’ve known that,” Mr Hand said.

Robinson, whose address was previously listed as Ventnor Villas, Hove, denies rape and sexual assault.

The trial continues.