‘They were both on me’: Police officers accused of groping 18-year-old at pub

The woman, who was 18 at the time, said the officers “were both on me” while she was drinking with them and two other people, at a Wetherspoons pub called The Church House, in Wath-upon-Dearne.

Police constable Paul Hinchcliffe, 46, is on trial at Leeds Crown Court, accused of sexual assault, after he allegedly pulled the woman’s top down and took a photograph of her breasts, on October 3, 2020.

In court, the woman said Hinchcliffe and another off-duty officer had also been touching her inappropriately that night.

“Things just started happening and it just was getting weirder and weirder, and there were just a lot of hands on me,” she said.

“It was coming from both sides. They were both on me.”

She also said she “mouthed help across the table” to her friend at one point, because both men “were just on me”.

The jury was told the group had been enjoying a day of drinking, which they had planned on Whatsapp, and there were a lot of “silly, childish jokes” and some “sexual innuendo”.

But during cross examination, the alleged victim said the two men took it to “a very sinister level” and it “started to feel a bit overwhelming”.

When she was discussing “a boob job” with the other woman at the table and said she had “a chest like a 12-year-old”, Hinchcliffe told her she had “a bum like a 12-year-old”.

She also claimed Hinchcliffe took a photograph of her wearing her glasses later that night and showed everyone else, saying: “I’m going to have a w*** to that".

He then started flicking beer foam at her and pulled her top down so he could take a photograph of her chest, she added.

Around two hours later, she went to the toilet and contacted her friend to ask for a lift home.

Later that night, Hinchcliffe sent her a message which read: “God I’d do you, is that bad?” and she replied: “Yes, it is.”

During cross examination, the woman was asked why she stayed with the group for more than two hours after the incident.

She said she did not want any confrontation, adding: “I was 18 at the time and I’ve grown a lot as a woman since then so I probably wouldn’t put up with it now and would say: ‘What the hell are you doing?’”.

The woman was also asked whether she had consented to the photograph being taken because she thought it would be “jokey, bantery behaviour”.

“I was involved in the banter but I did not invite anyone to put their hands on me. I didn’t invite anybody to flick beer down my top and take a photo,” she said.

Hinchcliffe, who had a role training South Yorkshire Police officers at the time but is currently suspended, denies one charge of sexual assault.

The trial at Leeds Crown Court continues.