A Met Police officer accused of inappropriately touching a cadet in a hotel room admits he sent the teenager and his friend “sexualised WhatsApp messages”, a court heard.
PC Grant Fulker, 31, allegedly assaulted the teenager at the Hilton DoubleTree Hotel at Heathrow Airport, in February last year. The police cadet leader bought four bottles of wine and abused the complainant ahead of a trip to the US, Southwark Crown Court heard. He denies sexual assault on a male and attempted sexual assault, claiming he was “play-fighting” with the alleged victim and his friend. Fulker, previously attached to Specialist Operations, has admitted three counts of misconduct in a public office by sending them both sexualised WhatsApp messages.
Jurors were told that Fulker suggested to the cadet that he book a hotel room so his parents would not have to drop him off at the airport. Emma Smith, prosecuting, told jurors: “At the time of the events we’re concerned with, the defendant was 30-years-old, a serving police officer and a police cadet leader.
“The prosecution case in a nutshell is that whilst staying at a hotel the night before a police cadet trip to New York, the defendant sexually assaulted the complainant by touching his penis over his clothing, and then he attempted to touch him again in the same way. The defendant has pleaded not guilty – he denies the charges he faces and whilst he accepts there was play-fighting, he denies that any sexual touching ever took place.”
She added: “The events subject to this trial began on the evening of Monday 12 February last year and continued into the early hours of Tuesday 13 February. The events took place at the Hilton DoubleTree hotel at Heathrow Airport..”
Fulker had “suggested” to the alleged victim and his friend that they “should book a room so that their parents do not have to deal with the early morning drop-off”, said Ms Smith.
She added: “After dinner (at the hotel), the defendant invited the boys to come to his room for a drink. He earlier bought two bottles of wine from the bar and he ordered two further bottles of wine at about midnight.
“The prosecution case is that in the early hours of that Tuesday morning, disinhibited by alcohol, the defendant took the opportunity to touch the complainant in a sexual way.”
Ms Smith said ‘there can be no dispute that the defendant was behaving in a sexually inappropriate manner’ because he has admitted three counts of misconduct in a public office.
‘Those charges reflect the sending, by the defendant, of sexualised WhatsApp messages to both boys.
‘The prosecution say to you that the matters to which the defendant had pleaded guilty demonstrate his active sexual interest in both those teenage boys at the time that we are concerned with in this trial.’
Ms Smith said the alleged offences were reported on 19 February because “neither boy wanted to ruin this long-planned trip either for themselves or for indeed any of the other police cadets.”
Fulker, of Surrey, denies sexual assault on a male and attempted sexual assault on a male. The trial is expected to last two weeks.
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