Police officer cleared of sex assault because panel found it more likely 'he was actually the victim'
1 September 2022, 14:27 | Updated: 1 September 2022, 14:34
A police officer prosecuted for having sex with a drunk woman while on duty was cleared of misconduct because he "was actually the victim."
Lee Cocking, 41, was giving the woman a lift home after she was kicked out of a bar in Weston-super-Mare when the incident took place on Christmas Eve 2017.
No details of why he was cleared were released with the verdict, but a report has now revealed the panel accepted married father of two Mr Cocking was more likely to have been the victim of sexual assault than the sex being consensual.
The panel's written decision said it was "certainly not possible" to say whether the former sergeant had lied and that "his version is more likely to be true than the suggestion that the sex between them was consensual."
Mr Cocking was acquitted on a criminal charge of misconduct in a public officer by a jury at Gloucester Crown Court last year.
During the trial, he said he felt "numb" and in a "complete panic" as the woman straddled him and tried to have sex.
He was later cleared of breaching standards of professional behaviour for police officers in relation to honesty and integrity and discreditable conduct by a police misconduct panel.
Ms A declined to take part in proceedings and has never accused Mr Cocking of assault.
The panel criticised officers for failing to investigate relevant lines of inquiry after Mr Cocking claimed that he was the victim in a police interview on January 18.
It also complained police had already concluded "who was a victim and who was a perpetrator" in the case.
The panel heard Mr Cocking, of Cheddar, gave the woman, identified throughout proceedings as Ms A, a lift home in his unmarked police car after she was thrown out of the Skinny Dippers bar.
It described Mr Cocking's decision to offer Ms A a lift "pragmatic policing" after finding her alone and with no money for a tax at 3am.
The written conclusion warned he would have been criticised if he had not "kept an eye on her".
But in a published written conclusion, the panel admitted Mr Cocking's case had been "difficult to believe".
"The panel appreciates the headline of this case is a sober police officer had sexual contact with a drunken woman to whom he was giving a lift home," it said.
"The most immediate conclusion is that he is at fault."
"Mr Cocking's allegation made her [Ms A] a suspect. She was not treated as one," the ruling said.
"No account was taken from her under caution, no doubt because the fear was that to caution her would be to silence her.
"We contrast this with the perceived need to arrest Mr Cocking rather than to ask him to attend a police station by arrangement.
"It is clear to us there was never any intention to treat her as a suspect."
Mr Cocking retired from the force on medical grounds in July.
