Police officer who had sex on duty claimed he was ‘powerless’, court told

Jordan Masterson denies misconduct in a public office.

The trial is taking place at Chester Crown Court (Peter Powell/PA) (PA Archive)

A police officer who had sex with a woman after she made a 999 call claimed he was “powerless”, a court has heard.

Jordan Masterson, 27, was on duty as a police constable with Cheshire Constabulary, based in Widnes, when he was called to the woman’s home in the early hours of December 28 2021.

A jury at Chester Crown Court heard the woman, referred to in court as female G, had already been visited by police officers at about 10pm on December 27 after reporting a disturbance.

Opening the case on Tuesday, Duncan Bould, prosecuting, said the woman later called police again and Masterson attended her home at about 12.30am, where she was “under the influence of alcohol” and “clearly in an emotional state”.

Mr Bould said: “Within a short time of arriving at her home, the defendant turned off his bodyworn camera and engaged in consensual sexual intercourse with female G.

“Shortly after that he left her.”

The jury heard female G described Masterson’s hand touching hers after he turned off his bodyworn camera and said the “atmosphere then changed” and they ended up in the living room having sex on the couch.

The woman, whose children were asleep in the house at the time, later made more emergency calls and Masterson returned to her home at about 1.30am, again turning off his bodyworn camera, the court heard.

Mr Bould said: “She says during the course of that second visit he told her not to tell anyone about what had happened earlier. He then left for a second time.”

After he had left, the woman called police again and described what had happened, the court heard.

Mr Bould said the woman used the word “rape” when talking to the police call handler, but then clarified that she had wanted to have sex.

The jury was told when Masterson, of Townsend Avenue, Clubmoor, Liverpool, was interviewed by police he gave no comment to questions but gave a prepared statement in which he said the woman had “instigated” physical contact.

He also said female G had “been in control and that he was powerless”, the court heard.

Mr Bould said relatively large amounts of the woman’s DNA were found inside boxer shorts recovered from Masterson’s home.

He said it was understood Masterson now accepted having sex with the woman, but would suggest he had “no control over his actions”.

“Effectively, it seems he will say female G forced those actions on him,” Mr Bould said.

“He denies he told her not to speak to anybody about their sexual encounter during that second visit to her home.”

The court heard when Masterson completed a vulnerable persons assessment form after visiting the woman, he wrote that officers should “be wary of what this female may do in the future and I urge my colleagues to attend double-crewed”.

Mr Bould told the jury: “It is the prosecution case that he wilfully misconducted himself by having sex with her, that vulnerable member of the public, whilst on duty.

“We say this is not a case of him having no control over his actions but that his actions were deliberate.”

Masterson, who wiped his eyes with a tissue at times during the court hearing, denies misconduct in a public office.

The trial is expected to last seven days.