July 26th 2024.
The courtroom was tense as a woman bravely took the stand, facing the police officer she alleged had raped her. As she prepared to give her testimony, she was shown a series of explicit pictures and videos of herself, filmed by the very man she accused.
The woman, a fellow police officer, recounted how she had been subjected to a solo sex act in one of the videos, filmed by the accused officer Sgt Richard Heard. He had pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of rape and voyeurism, but the evidence against him was damning.
As the defense lawyer, Matthew Butts KC, presented the intimate images to the jury and media, the courtroom was cleared due to their graphic nature. Even the judge, Susan Evans KC, expressed concern for the alleged victim, knowing it would be difficult for her to watch yet another video of herself in such a vulnerable position.
The woman tearfully admitted that she had no recollection of the recording being taken, which occurred around the same time she claimed to have been raped a second time. The lawyers then proceeded to read a description of another recording rather than playing it for the court, as reported by BBC.
But Mr. Butts argued that the sex in the video was consensual because the woman had covered the camera with her hand. However, she refuted this claim, stating that it was not consensual at all.
The court had previously heard that Sgt Heard had callously joked to the alleged victim that "it's not rape if you enjoy it at the end." The woman had reported that the first rape took place in July 2022, and during a recorded police interview from September 2023, she described how he had forcibly removed her belt and pushed her down when she tried to resist.
The woman had eventually given up fighting and allowed him to take photos of the bruising on her arm, a chilling detail that illustrated the power dynamic between them. The next reported rape happened in August, in which he allegedly told her, "I like it when it hurts you." She had secretly wished that her own phone had been used to record the incident as evidence.
The third alleged rape occurred in September 2022, and when the victim pleaded with him to stop, Sgt Heard coldly replied, "I'll be quick." The woman had tried to get him to put away his phone, but he continued to record their encounter.
The prosecution had revealed that all of these incidents had taken place while Sgt Heard was off duty between January 2022 and August 2023. As the trial continued, the woman bravely shared her traumatic experiences, hoping for justice to be served.
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