A City of London Police firearms officer is accused of sexually assaulting a fellow officer in a cocktail bar in the Square Mile while telling her “good girl”, a court has heard.
Sergeant Constandino Simeonidis, 54, came up behind the woman and grabbed her bottom, it is said, before allegedly pulling down her tights and carrying out a sexual assault.
The alleged victim says she did not want to report the incident at first, fearing she would not be believed as Simeonides is popular and known as a “top guy”.
Simeonides, who is part of the City of London Police firearms unit, denies claims of sexual assault, saying the woman had earlier asked to kiss him and any contact was consensual after some flirting.
Inner London crown court heard the incident dates back to 2022 at a City cocktail bar on a social occasion.
The female officer says she was standing at the bar when she “felt a hand touch her bottom and then go between her legs”, said prosecutor Marion Smullen.
“She shuffled away, thinking that’s not right, and heard the defendant behind her saying ‘good girl’.
“She then felt a massive tug on her tights, and this defendant put his hand inside her knickers and was touching her vagina.”
The woman says she was sexually assaulted, and turned around to see Simeonides.
“He had pulled the tights so hard he broke the elastic”, said Ms Smullen.
“She didn’t know what to do, and says she felt disgusting. She went to the toilet and left the bar.”
Jurors heard the woman had been drinking earlier in the day, having three glasses of white wine, a tequila shot, and a limoncello. But she says she had switched to water by the time of the alleged assault.
She says she was “embarrassed, shocked, and humiliated” in the aftermath, and resolved to not report the incident and pretend it had not happened.
“She thought if she did report it, no one would believe it unless they had seen it happen.
“Everyone thought of the defendant as a top guy, someone popular and liked. She tried to ignore what happened and behave like everything was normal.”
But she was convinced by a friend to report the incident to police bosses, sparking a criminal investigation.
Simeonides denied sexual assault when interviewed, and claimed the woman had been rubbing his thigh and groin area that evening.
“He said they were flirting with each other, dancing, and she was rubbing her backside against his groin”, said Ms Smullen.
Simeonides says the woman said she wanted to kiss him but he declined, and he claimed she had “guided my hand around her tights area”.
He also said in his police interview: “She didn’t tell me to stop and was in fact encouraging it”, the court heard.
Simeonides, from Milton Keynes, denies sexual assault and sexual assault by penetration. The trial continues.
