A Metropolitan Police officer charged with inappropriately touching a cadet in a hotel room acknowledged sending “sexualised WhatsApp messages” to the teenager and his companion, as shown in court.
PC Grant Fulker, 31, purportedly assaulted the adolescent at the Hilton DoubleTree Hotel at Heathrow Airport in February of the previous year. The police cadet leader purchased four bottles of wine and assaulted the complainant before to a vacation to the United States, as presented in Southwark Crown Court. He refutes allegations of sexual assault against a male and attempted sexual assault, asserting that he was “play-fighting” with the purported victim and his companion. Grant Fulker, formerly associated with Specialist Operations, has acknowledged three instances of misconduct in a public office by transmitting sexualised WhatsApp messages.
Jurors were informed that Grant Fulker advised the cadet to reserve a hotel room to prevent his parents from having to transport him to the airport. Emma Smith, representing the prosecution, informed the jurors: “At the time of the relevant events, the defendant was 30 years old, a serving police officer, and a leader of police cadets.”
“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, Grant Fulker, 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..”
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.
One of the charges is for sexual assault against a male over the age of 13, which usually means the victim is aged between 13 and 15.
‘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.”
Grant 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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