Police officer turned up at abuse vicitm’s home unannounced ‘up to 30 times’
A police constable turned up at a domestic violence victim’s house unannounced up to 30 times and told her she was “too pretty” for her boyfriend, a misconduct hearing has been told.
PC Colin Noble, of West Midlands Police, allegedly touched the leg and neck of a woman, labelled Miss A, and asked to see her tattoos.
The 49-year-old is accused of “trying it on” with four domestic abuse victims, and making a “catalogue of completely inappropriate comments” between 2014 and 2017.
Giving evidence to the tribunal at the force’s headquarters on Tuesday, Miss A said PC Noble “asked if I had ever slept with a black man” on one of his visits to her home.
Asked by presenting counsel Barney Branston how she responded to being told she could “do better” than her boyfriend, Miss A said: “I would just play it off and say I couldn’t, and he said ‘well you could have me’”.
The complainant said the conversation had made her feel “weird and sick” – adding: “It’s just not nice… because you believe you can trust people but you can’t”.
Denying PC Noble’s solicitor’s claims the pair had only met twice, Miss A said the officer had turned up “20 to 30 times” and they had “conversations about what I had been up to, if I had met anybody, or if I had been sleeping with anybody”.
The domestic violence victim said the PC’s visits were so frequent, she would ring her mother after he left and say: “Guess who’s just turned up again.”
Also giving evidence at the tribunal, another complainant, Miss C, said she and PC Noble had developed a “semi-relationship” while she had been on bail for a minor criminal offence.
The domestic abuse victim said the officer had asked her “how can you be single wearing those boots?” – referring to the thigh-high boots she had been wearing during a police interview.
Miss C said they became close while the investigation was continuing and that their phone conversations were “flirty”.
The complainant said PC Noble, who was an experienced officer of some 17 years, based at Stechford, Birmingham, before the allegations came to light, told her he could “get into trouble” for contacting her, but had allegedly asked her out for “food and drinks”.
Both Miss A and Miss C came forward to report PC Noble following publicity surrounding his criminal trial at Birmingham Crown Court in 2019, in which he was acquitted of a charge of misconduct in a public office.
The disciplinary hearing, due to last up to ten days, continues.
