A police officer has been cleared by a jury in Edinburgh of raping a woman and a six-year-old girl after doubts emerged about the dates of the alleged attacks.
Martyn Coulter, 36, a Police Scotland constable currently on suspension, was found not guilty of six of the charges by verdicts and a seventh charge was not proven – a verdict of acquittal, after the jury deliberated for nearly four hours.
Coulter, a former Territorial Army soldier, was accused of raping the woman twice in 2013 at a house in Dunbar and his former flat in Edinburgh, and of raping the girl on an unspecified date between September 2013 and November 2014 in Dunbar.
He was also accused of sexually assaulting the same child on unspecified dates and of physically assaulting the woman, the child and another girl, who was then aged between three and five, in East Lothian during 2013 and 2014.
The older girl alleged Coulter threatened to beat her “black and blue” if she revealed the alleged rape. The youngest girl told the trial, in a pre-recorded video interview, that she hid in a cupboard during one violent outburst by Coulter, who denied all the charges.
During a seven-day trial at the high court in Edinburgh, the prosecution told jurors Coulter had “abused his position as a police officer” to coerce the woman into not speaking about the attack. Kath Harper, the advocate depute, said: “She was frightened she would not be believed. He was telling her she would not be believed.”
The jury was told Coulter had laughed repeatedly when confronted about the allegations during a police interview. He told the jury that was disbelief because he was in “utter shock” about the claims against him.
Coulter, a University of Dundee law graduate, said none of the allegations against him were true.
He said that the second alleged rape of the woman at his former home in Dunbar at lunchtime in September 2013 “could not have happened” as he was in Hampshire taking part in military police training.
His alleged victim, now 36, has claimed he wanted sex with her to celebrate his forthcoming posting to Afghanistan and forced himself on her, but Coulter said he only discovered he was going there in November. The court also heard evidence she went on a night out with him later that day.
Ian Duguid KC, Coulter’s defence advocate, said it was a difficult time for a police officer to stand trial for rape given the widespread coverage of the unrelated rape trial of a Metropolitan police officer. “You are not judging him because he is a police officer. It is the evidence in this case that matters, not anything else,” Duguid told the jury.
Duguid challenged the prosecution’s account by producing Google maps, timelines, bank statements and social media posts showing Coulter’s locations on the day of the alleged rape in September 2013. His army records showed he had been on an army training course for most of the month.
Police Scotland said: “The officer remains suspended and, given that criminal proceedings have concluded, the matter will now be assessed for misconduct by Police Scotland’s professional standards department.”
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
