A policeman cleared of raping a businesswoman he met online tried to keep his occupation hidden during his trial by arguing that jurors would be ‘prejudiced’ against him.
David Longden-Thurgood’s barrister tried to hide the fact he is a police officer ahead of his first trial at Winchester Crown Court, claiming the jury would not be able to remain impartial following the Sarah Everard murder.
The Hampshire PC was officially cleared of the sex attack on the woman he met on Bumble last month, after two previous trials against him collapsed.
The first trial, in June 2022, was abandoned after jurors contracted coronavirus. During a retrial in January, the jury was unable to reach a verdict.
It was announced last week that prosecutors would not seek another trial because the woman involved did not want to go through giving evidence for a third time.
Longden-Thurgood’s barrister, Fern Russell, first argued his occupation should not be revealed to jurors during the trial because of the ‘public outcry’ following the Sarah Everard case.
David Longden-Thurgood’s (pictured) barrister tried to hide the fact he is a police officer ahead of his first trial at Winchester Crown Court
After that legal application was thrown out, she then tried to persuade the court to ban the media from reporting the nature of his job until the end of the trial.
She also complained about new reports which referred to his job, and Twitter users who had expressed opinions about the case on social media.
According to Ms Russell, Longden-Thurgood’s job is of ‘minimal value’, and the reporting of it ‘sensationalist’. She added that officers accused of sex offences against women are unfairly prejudiced against and she he ‘should not have to deal with that’.
The first trial was due to begin on June 6 last year, and was expected to last around one week, but was held up by legal matters on the first day.
One the second day, the trial was held up again when Ms Russell lodged the application to exclude her client’s profession from the trial.
Making the application, Ms Russell said police officers accused of sex offences against women have a ‘weight of suspicion’ placed on them.
‘Being a police officer accused of sexual offences against women puts police officers in a prejudicial position’, she said.
‘[Longden-Thurgood] was charged within a month of the Sarah Everard murder. When being a police officer is of minimal value to [the case], reference to it should be excluded.
The Hampshire PC was officially cleared of the sex attack on the woman he met on Bumble last month, after two previous trials against him collapsed
Longden-Thurgood walked free when jurors failed to agree after he argued the woman was a willing participant
‘We all know the public outcry when officers are accused of sexual offences against vulnerable women. Having to deal with his occupation [being revealed] is just going to bring prejudice within it… He should not have to deal with that.’
Judge Robert Bright QC dismissed the application, ruling Longden-Thurgood’s position a police officer was part of the reason the woman trusted him enough to invite him to her home so the jury should hear it.
‘It’s the case that he said he was a police officer and that he would protect her’, the judge said. He also said there was an ‘imbalance of power’ in the incident due to the circumstances.
The case was set to open on June 8 but was adjourned after an illness in court. It officially opened on June 10.
After the prosecution laid out the case to jurors and media reports of the opening of the trial had circulated, Ms Russell said she would be seeking a temporary ban on reporting her client’s job, but this was dismissed.
But after the story appeared in several national newspapers over the weekend, she made two applications.
Firstly, she tried to have the jury discharged, claiming the coverage was ‘sensationalist’ and that it, and comments on social media, caused prejudice against Longden-Thurgood, meaning jurors would be unable to fairly try him if they saw it.
Secondly, she requested a temporary ban be put in place on reporting his job under the end of the trial.
Longden-Thurgood (pictured) has been a Hampshire Constabulary officer for 19 years
But Judge Bright QC dismissed both applications, ruling: ‘I consider that the risks [of prejudice] in this case, associated as they are with references to something the jury already know, are overstated’.
No similar applications were made at the retrial in the same court last month.
Longden-Thurgood, a Hampshire Constabulary officer of 19 years, walked free when jurors failed to agree after he argued the woman was a willing participant. He said she had performed oral sex on him, moved into a sexual position and made noises as if ‘she was enjoying it’.
He claimed that, as a father with daughters and having ‘dealt with victims of rape’, he would not have sex without consent.
The jury was discharged after telling the judge they could not reach a verdict on a single count of rape, having deliberated for just over nine hours.
During the nine day long trial, jurors heard that the father-of-three met the woman on Bumble and she felt a ‘degree of trust because he was a police officer’.
He sent her selfies, talking about having sex in his uniform and told her he is ‘a bit of a rebel off duty’ as the pair exchanged sexualised messaged in October 2020. In these messages, he bragged about his physical build and told her: ‘I’ll protect you for life, you will be my baby girl, I’ll look after you.’
After a day of exchanging messages and naked selfies, the woman invited him to her Hampshire home where they had sex.
Longden-Thurgood said he was ‘completely confident she was happy with what was happening. He added that before meeting up, he thought she was ‘quite keen’ as her messages had been ‘very explicit’.
He walked free from Winchester Crown Court last month.
