Harrogate police officer sexually assaulted woman while on duty, court hears

Christopher Hudson, 32, assaulted the woman in a car park at Stonefall Cemetery on Wetherby Road, the prosecution told a jury at Leeds Crown Court.

Prosecuting barrister Gerald Hendron said Hudson, who was serving as a police constable based at Harrogate Police Station at the time of the alleged incident, stroked the woman on the back of the neck and ear and “pulled her towards him”.

He then kissed her, but she repeatedly told him “No”.

“She started to panic but he continued,” added Mr Hendron.

“He took hold of her hand and moved it on (an intimate part of his body),” added Mr Hendron.

“The defendant had his hand (near an intimate part of her body) and touched her there.”

She later told friends about what happened and how “shocked and confused” she had been during and after the incident.

“She feared she would not be believed,” said Mr Hendron.

She sought help from a counsellor about stress which was brought on by the alleged incident in February 2021.

Hudson, of Hollin Terrace, Huddersfield, was arrested in March of that year when he denied sexually assaulting the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He denies one count of sexual assault.

The trial continues.