PC Ireland Teddington Murdock, 26, has pleaded not guilty to one count of raping the female officer in the bedroom of her shared Clapham flat in the early hours of September 25, 2021.
At the time PC Murdock - known as ‘Ted’ - of Hillside, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire was attached to the Central North Command Unit, having joined the Met in January, 2019.
He told the Inner London Crown Court jury he started drinking at the Abbey Tavern pub, Kentish Town at 4pm and continued until closing-time when he left with the WPC.
Describing himself as “six out of ten” drunk at the end of the night PC Murdock told the trial the woman joined the party during the evening. “She was bought a drink and bought herself drinks.
“She said she had some catching up to do and at that point I was tipsy,” he explained.
Afterwards, the pair waited for an Uber at a nearby bus stop outside the pub. “She was sitting on my lap. We were kissing and I was touching her over her clothes.”
PC Murdock admitted touching the woman between her legs at the bus stop, while another officer with them was urinating out of sight around the corner.
“She was reciprocating in an enjoyable way and I attempted to put my hand under her clothing, under her jeans, but I stopped because she did not want our colleague to see.”
The female officer told the jury she consented to sexual activity, but not to all of PC Murdock’s behaviour in her bedroom that night.
“I was happy and she seemed to be the same,” he told the court. “We kissed at the end of the bed and started undressing each other.”
PC Murdock said consensual sex followed, denying he raped the woman.
He conceded at one point she “jolted forward” and said: “Ted, woah,” but the sexual activity continued.
PC Murdock stayed the night, but admitted there was a strained atmosphere the following morning.
“I turned towards her to give her a hug and she pushed me away. She said that she was not happy with what happened last night.
“I was confused and I stayed silent for about ten minutes. It is something I do, I clam up.
“I said: ‘I won’t stay here if there’s an atmosphere. Do you want me to leave?’ and then I left.
The pair exchanged tense WhatsApp messages over the following days. “She was implying she was not happy and I believed on the night that she was.
“She was clearly upset and I wanted to fix it,” added PC Murdock, who sent one message to the WPC which read: “You’re wording things like I’m a rapist and that’s p***ing me off.”
Earlier the officer told the jury he changed his middle name by deed poll to ‘Teddington’ because that is the area of south-west London where his late mother was laid to rest.
He said he had a challenging childhood involving an alcoholic mother, foster care and being raised by his older sister.
That was his motivation for the name change in May, 2019, PC Murdock explained. “It was an attempt to cut ties with that part of my family.”
The female officer did not request to be screened from the defendant and told the jury from the witness box: “I said something like: ‘Woah’ or ‘Stop’ I can’t remember.”
She did not report PC Murdock immediately and several month passed before she complained. “I did not feel safe to report it, we were always together,” she told the investigating officers in a video recorded police interview.
“In a ten day work period we would be together eight or nine days.”
The officer said she had to change her bedsheets after the rape. “I got rid of them right after. There was just a lot of little bloody spots.”
She did not seek any medical treatment, adding: “I did not want to go to a GP and have questions raised. I was embarrassed.
“I was fairly numb to it. There was no proper thought after the incident.”
However, she insisted PC Murdock’s intentions in the bedroom were clear that night. “He was definitely positioning himself and then he tried again.”
She went to work the next day, but said it was a challenging shift. “It was difficult. It hurt to sit down and I was in pain and it was dawning on me what happened.
“He said he did not remember anything because he was so drunk.
“He was drunk that night. His speech was all slurred. He was not falling over or anything, but it was obvious he had quite a lot to drink.
“On the day it happened I rang one of my flatmates to say he did something last night I was not happy with.”
When they woke up that morning PC Murdock admits he went in for a cuddle, but was shunned by the woman. “I told him that he really hurt me last night.”
The trial heard the female officer informally reported PC Murdock for rape to her professional colleagues during a pub quiz night on January 9, 2022 - over three months later.
Fellow officers described her as crying as she revealed the details, saying she was hesitant to say anything earlier because PC Murdock knows where she lives and works and her parents’ address.
The PC Murdock was investigated by the Serious Sexual Offences Department - commonly known as Sapphire - based at Brixton Police Station.
The jury heard the WhatsApp messages exchanged between PC Murdock and the complainant the day after in which she tells him: “I’m in a stupid amount of pain.”
PC Murdock replied: “You’re treating me like a sex offender,” and: “Just say Ted is a rapist.”
The trial continues…………..
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