A serving Kent police officer allegedly wanted to have sex with a witness during an ongoing burglary investigation with “no strings” attached, a court has heard.
Matthew Peall, 47, who is based in Canterbury, is on trial at Southwark Crown Court accused of misconduct in a judicial or public office and has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
He allegedly shared flirtatious text messages, emails and phone calls with a care home manager while investigating a burglary of an elderly client between October and December 2019.
Giving evidence at the court on Tuesday, the complainant told the jury she viewed her exchanges with the officer as “banter” and denied ever having an emotional or sexual connection with him.
The jury was shown text messages, emails and call logs between Peall, who was using his work phone, and the complainant, using her personal phone, over a period of around two months.
The court heard Peall visited the complainant’s house twice on October 22 and 28 2019 to obtain two witness statements in person about the burglary, which had been reported earlier that month.
While the two had been in contact since October 10 and continued to be up to March 3 2020, these were the only two occasions they met in person.
The complainant confirmed Peall did not try to make contact with her on social media and did not try to arrange a meeting at an external location.
In a text message sent on the date of the second visit, the officer said “Was that a blink or a wink?”, to which the complainant replied with a ‘winking face’ emoji.
Asked by prosecutor Zarah Dickinson what she thought he meant by the message, the complainant said: “I thought he meant I winked at him as he was leaving (the house).”
The complainant said the mood at the second statement had been “more relaxed”, but when asked by Ms Dickinson if there was any flirtatious behaviour from her, she replied: “No.”
She responded to many of Peall’s messages with the ‘winking face’ emoji, and told the jury this was something she did regularly outside her interactions with the defendant.
In texts sent on November 3, Peall said: “I am never sure what your winks mean,” to which the complainant responded: “I am sure you will figure them out.”
Addressing her response, the complainant told the jury: “When I feel uncomfortable in a situation I try to joke my way out of it.”
Put to her by defence barrister Ryan Dowding that she “reciprocated” Peall’s flirtatious messages “most of the times” he sent them, the complainant replied: “I disagree.”
Put to her by Mr Dowding that it was “obvious” what was being discussed in the November 3 texts, she replied: “(It is) from his side. He doesn’t know what I am thinking.”
Peall said in a text sent to the complainant on November 20, “Wonder if you are as on edge as me. Do you have a high sex drive?”, which she responded to with a ‘winking face’ emoji.
Asked by Ms Dickinson why she responded in that way, the complainant told the court she had someone else in the office with her when she received the message.
She added: “He (Peall) just wanted to have sex and nothing else, no strings (attached).”
The complainant did not reply to several of Peall’s messages later in November, as she told the court she was “focusing on my clients”.
Asked by Ms Dickinson why there was no outright rejection of Peall, the complainant said she “tried to hold back on certain things I am saying” after having bad experiences in past relationships.
Asked by Mr Dowding if the ‘winking face’ emoji was a “neutral response”, she replied: “That was my way of trying to get out of replying.
“I wasn’t saying ‘yes’ and I wasn’t saying ‘no’.”
Put to her by Mr Dowding that she “disengaged” with Peall having learned that he had a partner and children, the complainant replied: “Absolutely not.”
The defendant was interviewed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct on August 26 2020. In his prepared statement, he accepted there had been inappropriate flirtation on text messages and that he should have reported it. But he did not accept he was misconducting himself in a public office.
The trial continues.
