Lincoln: PC accused of rape resigned over 'derogatory' messages, court told

A former PC on trial for rape resigned from Lincolnshire Police over "derogatory" messages about the public and colleagues, a court has heard.

Frazer McDowall, 24, would have been sacked for gross misconduct if he had not quit the force, a jury was told.

The messages came to light during the investigation into the alleged rape of a 20-year-old woman Mr McDowall met on a night out in Lincoln.

He denies the charge and maintains the pair had consensual sex.

Prosecutors say the alleged victim was too drunk to have consented.

The woman broke down in tears on Tuesday as she told Nottingham Crown Court she had no memory of getting a taxi to her flat with Mr McDowall, of Ryland Road, Welton, or having sex with him.

She said she awoke the next morning feeling as though she had had sex and was "sick everywhere".

The alleged victim met Mr McDowall, who was an off-duty probationary police constable at the time, at Home nightclub on 15 October last year.

In a police interview played in court, she said Mr McDowall made it "very, very clear that he wanted to sleep with me" but she was "absolutely not" interested.

The woman said she had six double vodkas at Home nightclub before leaving with Mr McDowall for Cloud 9 strip bar, where she drank two more.

"After my second drink, I don't remember anything," she said in a police interview played in court.

'Derogatory messages'

CCTV footage played to the jury showed the alleged victim and Mr McDowall kissing in Cloud 9 bar and holding hands as they walked down the street.

Barrister Paul Renteurs, representing the former police officer, suggested to the alleged victim that "by this point of the night you were attracted to Mr McDowall". The woman agreed she may have been.

Asked if the alcohol she drank "may have affected your memory of that night," she replied: "I'd assume so, yes."

The pair left Cloud 9 to get a taxi together at 4am.

After reaching the alleged victim's home, Mr McDowell asked the taxi driver if he could wait for 10 to 20 minutes before taking him to his house.

He went inside the woman's flat for 16 minutes before letting himself out.

Mr McDowell, who had a girlfriend of two years at the time, was arrested after the woman reported the alleged rape to police and officers identified him from CCTV.

The former officer, who began training to be a constable at Lincolnshire Police in May 2020, confirmed to Mr Renteurs that he was found to have posted messages in a group chat which were "derogatory about police colleagues and members of the public".

Disciplinary proceedings were conducted in his absence and determined he would have been sacked for gross misconduct if he had not resigned.

The trial continues.