A POLICE officer has gone on trial accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Aberaeron whilst off-duty.

DC Sam Garside appeared at Swansea Crown Court charged with an offence of sexual assault by penetration from December 3, 2021.

Garside, 31, of Cwmann, denied the offence.

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The jury was shown the video of the complainant’s interview giving evidence to the police.

She told police that she and Garside were both walking in the direction of the Prince of Wales pub that evening. 

The complainant told officers Garside “grabbed” her and “pushed [her] into a doorway”. She said that he “kind of pinned me into the doorway, being really close to me”.

The officer then sexually assaulted her using his finger, she said.

“I used my forearm and I pushed his arm away and him away,” she said.

The complainant said she shouted ‘What the f*** was that about?’ after Garside, but he did not reply.

“I was just in shock,” she said. “It was done in about five seconds.

“I carried on to the pub and stupidly tried to forget it had happened. Thought if I carried on as normal, I could forget about it.”

When asked why she didn’t tell anyone, she said: “I was too embarrassed to say. Embarrassed that I let something like that happen to me.

“The longer I left it, the harder it became.

“I couldn’t speak to anybody about it. It was eating me up inside.

“For so long I blamed myself.

“I can’t understand why he thought that was okay.”

The court heard the complainant messaged Garside in the following days and told him words to the effect of: ‘What you did was unacceptable. I won’t tell anyone, but it can’t happen again’, to which he replied: ‘Okay’. The complainant then deleted the messages.

During cross-examination, Nicola Powell, for Garside, asked the complainant whether the message referred to consensual sexual activity with the defendant - which would have meant both of them had been cheating on their partners.

“That would be 'unacceptable', wouldn't it?,” she said.

“I did not cheat on my partner,” the complainant said.

Ms Powell asked the complainant why she deleted the message.

“Because I didn't want my husband to see it and ask questions,” she replied.

“I thought I could just forget about it.

“Obviously that was the wrong thing to do.” 

The complainant reported the allegation on July 14 last year, and Garside was arrested four days later. He admitted in interview that the act took place, but said it was consensual.

Garside – who was based in Dyfed-Powys Police’s Ceredigion division – was suspended from the force when the allegations were reported.

The trial continues.