Police officer facing misconduct charge tells court he only flirted with burglary victim because she winked at him
8 August 2024, 14:38
A police officer has told a court he only flirted with a burglary victim because she winked at him but has denied pursuing a sexual relationship with her.
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PC Matthew Peall, 47, is accused of misconduct in a public office after he allegedly tried to initiate a sexual relationship with the female carer of an elderly woman.
Peall pursued a “sexual or improper emotional relationship” with the female - referred to as “LS” - after her home was raided on October 8, 2019, jurors heard.
The alleged behaviour took place between October 9 and December 17 of the same year after Peall attended the female’s house to take a statement, the court heard.
The police officer of Dover, Kent admitted that he “should have reported” the relationship to the appropriate authorities, while giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court.
But he said that self-reporting relationships with witnesses was “never discussed openly” and he “did not remember” completing online training about preventing police abuse of position of trust for sexual purposes.
Peall previously handled complex adult and child sexual abuse cases for over three years as part of Kent Police's Vulnerability Investigations Team.
He first visited the witness's house to take a statement regarding the burglary on October 22, 2019.
He said he built a “rapport” with LS as he took her first statement and said messages between them “became flirty” soon after this initial meeting.
Peall said he was “absolutely convinced that she (LS) winked at me” in the doorway of her house as he took her second statement.
He messaged her saying: “I'm never sure what your winks mean” and she responded: “I'm sure you'll figure them out.”
“I understood that to mean she was flirting with me - although I may have been thinking it possible she wasn't, she was actually doing so,” he told the court.
The court heard that in a sequence of messages sent on November 20, one read: “We could be wicked together”, followed by a winking face emoji, to which the woman replied: “I'm sure we could”.
Peall said this was an “escalation in flirtation”, adding: “I believe, I still do, that is exactly what she intended, to continue to flirt with me.”
The officer admitted to asking the female over messages if she had a “high sex drive”.
He confessed phone calls between the pair involved “some kind of sexualised conversation”.
Peall said he “stopped communicating” with the complainant on December 16 and was “quite glad it had stopped”.
“Afterwards, when there was no further contact, I was relieved”, he said.
Asked whether he ever met the female for sex, Peall replied: “No, not at all.”
He told the court, “I wasn't in a good place - she had winked at me and she flirted with me, and I flirted back”, when asked why he engaged in the conversations.
When asked about not reporting the messages, he told the court: “I don't know why I didn't - I should have done, I should have reported it.”
“I never reported anything and I wasn't ever aware of anyone reporting anything of any kind.
“I can't recall how much emphasis there was on that at the time, it wasn't something that was discussed openly that I ever remember.
“Certain colleagues had developed relationships over that time, the reporting of things, I don't ever remember that being discussed.”
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Peall said he could not recall ever receiving online training about preventing police abuse of position of trust for sexual purposes.
Peall said: “Online training covers many topics over a long period of time, I couldn't remember whether I would have done or not.
“I think it was put on you to look at these things if you saw them, certainly not to go actively looking for these documents.
During cross-examination by prosecutor Zarah Dickinson, Peall denied organising the taking of a third statement for the purposes of arranging a sexual meet-up.
“She was providing information as a witness, there was no vulnerability - she was flirting with me as much as I was flirting with her”, he said.
Peall denies one count of wilfully misconducting himself in public office. The trial continues.
