Married police inspector, 46, accused of having sex with a vulnerable junior ... trends now

A detective chief inspector who allegedly had a sexual relationship with a vulnerable junior officer asked her if she was having an affair when she broke it off, a court heard.

Detective Chief Inspector David 'Will' Rolls, 46, confronted the woman at work after she deleted his number from her phone.

He told the junior officer there was a rumour she was having an affair with another senior officer.

A court heard he said: 'I thought you'd replaced me. I thought there was someone else because you deleted my number.'

The junior officer told the jury said: 'I said: 'No.'

She said she had deleted his number because she wanted to end the relationship with the senior officer.

Rolls, who is married with two children, is accused of using his senior position in Sussex Police to take advantage of the vulnerable female officer between January 2016 to March 2018.

Rolls, who has since resigned as detective chief inspector, has denied the charge and is on trial at Lewes Crown Court charged with misconduct in a public office.

The court heard the pair, who worked in the same force, met while working in Sussex Police in July 2016.

They struck up a friendship and the senior detective began sending the junior officer a series of 'flirty texts'.

Although he knew the married officer had suffered mental health problems, he allegedly became increasingly close eventually asking her to send him intimate pictures.

She told the court she felt 'uncomfortable' with his demands, but sent naked photos of herself.

In return he showed her a photograph of himself on his phone where he is sitting naked in an intimate pose.

The court heard their relationship continued and the senior officer began to visit the woman at her home while on duty.

His visits became more and more sexual, the court heard, and he eventually asked her to perform a sexual act on him, which she did.