A former Special Constable accused of the roadside rape of a woman while off-duty has broken down in tears as he denied any wrongdoing and claimed the allegations left him feeling scared.
Former Metropolitan Police volunteer Paul Hoile said he believed his alleged victim was consenting during a late-night encounter while he was visiting Shropshire in July.
The 40-year-old conveyor belt engineer, from Essex, denies three counts of rape relating to the same incident, claiming consensual activity took place “without fuss” after he and a friend met the woman by chance.
Giving evidence from the witness box on Monday, Hoile contradicted the woman’s account that he had instructed her not to drive after questioning her about her driving licence.
Telling jurors he had produced his warrant card twice at the woman’s request, Hoile also alleged the complainant had lied to the jury about him “snatching” her phone.
I didn't know what on earth was going on. I was just scared, I was worried— Paul Hoile
Hoile, who has since resigned from his role with the Met, told Wolverhampton Crown Court he had been polite while talking to the woman.
He told the court: “She said she was calling a taxi. I was just being kind really… a normal person.”
After he “stupidly” propositioned the woman, Hoile said, she dropped to her knees and performed a sex act on him before further consensual activity took place near a fence in a “dark lane”.
Describing his arrest on the day following the incident, Hoile said he rang police and provided his address after four officers visited his parents’ home.
Wiping away tears with his hands as he recalled how he was detained and transported “in a cage” in a police van, Hoile added: “I didn’t know what had gone on.
“The police turned up at roughly 10 o’clock. I saw a BMW with no lights on just crawling down the road.
“Then police officers got out.”
Hoile, who said he was brought up in a police family, broke down as he recalled the moment that he was told he was being arrested on suspicion of rape, before being taken to Basildon police station.
“They said this police force was coming down and I said ‘Can they do what they need to do here?’ They said no, they are taking you back,” Hoile said.
“I was put in a police cell. I couldn’t phone my family. I couldn’t tell anybody where I was, it was just stress. I didn’t know what on earth was going on. I was just scared, I was worried.”
Under cross-examination by prosecutor Caroline Goodwin KC, Hoile said he was a respectable person, and insisted the complainant was “totally fine” and had known it “wasn’t a police matter.”
After being taken through the wording of the police oath to serve with “fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality,” Hoile claimed he had not produced his warrant card willingly and was not performing his duty when speaking with the woman.
The Crown’s barrister asked Hoile: “Because of the way you had treated her, Mr Hoile, she found herself in a position on that road where she was, I suggest, against her will forced to comply with your drunk sexual demands.”
Hoile replied: “Absolutely not.”
The defendant, of The Chase, Benfleet, denies misconduct in public office, three counts of oral and anal rape, and a charge of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
The trial continues.
