Girl hid from police officer Martyn Coulter, rape trial hears

A child hid in a cupboard for an hour amid a violent outburst from a Police Scotland officer charged with rape, a court has heard.

Martyn Coulter, 36, is accused of raping and assaulting a woman in Edinburgh and East Lothian in 2013.

He is also accused of the rape and a series of sexual assaults on a girl, aged five when attacks began, from September 2013 to November 2014.

The officer, who has been suspended from the force, denies the charges.

He also denies a charge of threatening or abusive behaviour.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard pre-recorded evidence from a child, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

She said she had to hide in a cupboard "for an hour" due to Mr Coulter's alleged behaviour in or around October 2014.

The court also heard the police officer would regularly hit the child and get "really angry".

She also told the court how she heard Mr Coulter throw another child against a radiator close to the same period of time, so hard it left a permanent dent in the back of her head. She said she also heard him hitting a woman's head off a marble kitchen counter.

Mr Coulter has lodged a special defence to the alleged rape in September 2013, stating that he was in England on a military police training course.

But the specific date the alleged events are said to have taken place have not been confirmed, with various witnesses saying they could not remember.

On Tuesday, the woman who has accused Coulter of raping and assaulting her told the court he smashed her head off of a cabinet.

Asked by advocate depute Kath Harper why she did not involve the authorities during this time, the witness said Coulter told her nobody would believe her because he was a police officer.

On Monday she said the officer raped her.

The trial before Lady Drummond continues.