Court Rules That Woman’s Report of Rape by Police Officer Can Proceed to Trial
A woman has had to call police over alleged abusive behavior by an officer whom she has accused of raping her, a court has heard.
The witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court that Martyn Coulter banged her head against a kitchen cabinet and saw him throw a small child across a room.
Coulter is accused of raping the woman and assaulting her three times at addresses in East Lothian and Edinburgh between June 2013 and November 2014, and is also accused of threatening her.
He is also accused of raping, sexually molesting and threatening a girl under the age of 13.
Coulter, 36, denies the allegations and has filed a special defense, saying he attended a military police training course in England between September 6 and September 21, 2013.
Testifying before the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday, the woman said Coulter banged her head against a kitchen cabinet in an incident in late 2014, saying: “To this day I don’t even know why he did it.”
The witness said this incident left marks on her forehead. She described her head bouncing off the kitchen cabinet.
She told the court about several other incidents in 2014, including a time she witnessed Coulter throwing a small child across a room by the shoulders.
When asked by attorney Kath Harper why she didn’t contact authorities during that time, the witness said Coulter told her no one would believe her because he was a police officer.
She said Coulter planted a seed of doubt in her mind, telling her he had participated in calls like the incidents at work she described and asking her how he could remain impartial in those cases.
The woman said she thought at the time, “Maybe it’s not as bad as I think it is. Maybe other people live like that.”
The court was later told Coulter had been arrested for a breach of the peace following an altercation with the witness’ family in 2014.
However, the witness said the court police did not follow up.
Ian Duguid KC defended her and asked her about the incident, which allegedly happened in September 2013, when she accused Coulter of raping her.
The witness told the court Monday she couldn’t remember the exact date, but said she went to Coulter’s home at lunchtime on or about September 23, 2013 to celebrate the news that he was reunited with the Territorial Army going on a business trip through Afghanistan.
She told the court Monday he wanted to have sex with her to celebrate the news, but told him she didn’t because she didn’t have time.
But the court heard claims that she appeared to have been dating Coulter that night.
She also told the court she could not remember the night in question as it had been 10 years ago.
The court was shown a recording of Coulter’s movements on the day in question, including time spent at Ocean Terminal in Leith, Edinburgh.
However, the witness insisted that she had no recollection of being with him on the date in question.
The court also heard how between September 6 and 21 Coulter had attended army training to become a military policeman.
Mr. Duguid then informed the witness that Coulter had received no such letter that he would be deployed to Afghanistan in September and that he had in fact been informed in November that he would be deployed for a maximum of 12 weeks as he was in the territorial army.
The witness said the letter may have told Coulter he had been admitted to a training course before going to Afghanistan.
Mr Duguid also provided the witness with social media posts that appeared to have been written by her in 2018, suggesting that while Coulter had engaged in abusive behavior towards her, she had not been physically abusive and that police had told her , she could do nothing but a result of it.
However, the witness claimed she “repeatedly” reported her concerns about Coulter to various authorities.
The trial before Lady Drummond continues.
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