Met Police officer in court charged with sexually assaulting woman at Wembley ...

Met Police officer in court charged with sexually assaulting woman at Wembley ...
Met Police officer in court charged with sexually assaulting woman at Wembley ...

A police officer sexually assaulted a woman as she 'sheltered' in a hotel following an argument with her husband, a court heard today. 

PC Rudvelle Walters, 48, allegedly slapped the complainant's bottom and slipped his hand inside her underwear in the early hours of 5 February 2019.

Pc Walters, who was conducting a welfare check after the woman was reported missing, allegedly sent her a Facebook friend request after asking for her name and telephone number.

Southwark Crown Court was told the woman was so shocked by his behaviour she thought he must have been a friend of her husband's out for revenge wearing a police costume.

He was suspended from duty after he was charged with sexual assault of the Polish woman at 6am on 5 February 2019 at the Best Western Plus Hotel in Wembley, north-west London.

Police officers speaking to the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, raised the alarm when she described the assault o them the next day.

The alleged victim in her 20s, who does not speak English, also claimed and showed to them that Walters had sent a hello message with a heart emoji on Facebook.

Walters denies the assault and claims the two women aggressively gave him a 'bear hug', he lost his balance and his cuffs had dug into her as he fell.

PC Rudvelle Walters, 47, (pictured outside Southwark Crown Court today) is charged with the sexual assault of a woman in a Wembley hotel

PC Rudvelle Walters, 47, (pictured outside Southwark Crown Court today) is charged with the sexual assault of a woman in a Wembley hotel

He claims the social media interaction was because the woman had sent a friend request on his phone, as he was unfamiliar with how it worked, and the 'hello' with the heart was an automatic suggestion that was sent by mistake.

The Met made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) who carried out an investigation.

Walters was initially placed on restricted duties and was subsequently suspended from duty.

Prosecutor Abigail Husbands said: 'The defendant in this case is a serving police officer.

'As part of his duties, he attended a hotel room to conduct a welfare check on a lady who had been reported missing: she was sheltering with her friend, having had an argument with her husband.

'The officer attended to check that she was safe and well.

'Rather than doing this from outside the hotel room itself, he went into the room and whilst there, he sexually assaulted the missing woman, by putting his hand into her underwear.'

Ms Husbands said that two police officers were assigned to the call, with one remaining at the station conducting enquiries and the other, Walters, going on scene visits.

She said: '[The woman] was there with a female friend of hers. She had had an argument with her husband and had left her home during that argument with nothing but the clothes she was wearing.

'She was then at the hotel with her friend to have a break from the argument. She had nowhere else to go. Her husband must have phoned the police and reported her missing.

The officer, who was attached to the North West Command Unit, denies the assault and claims the two women aggressively gave him a 'bear hug'

The officer, who was attached to the North West Command Unit, denies the assault and claims the two women aggressively gave him a 'bear hug'

'You will hear [the woman] say that she woke, and saw that she had had a number of missed calls.

'She googled the number and saw that it was a police number. She called the number back.

'Police explained that she had been reported missing. She agreed to give police her location as long as they did not pass it on to her husband. She sought that reassurance. She said she was safe and well.

'Police said that

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