'Phone was wiped before woman reported assault'

A woman may have "wiped" her phone before accusing a police officer of sexually assaulting her, a court has heard.

Lee Meadows is accused of putting his arms around a woman and thrusting himself against her as she walked ahead of him on 25 September 2020.

Mr Meadows, 45, from Doncaster, worked for North Yorkshire Police at the time of the alleged incident but later left the force. He denies a single charge of sexual assault.

At Bradford Crown Court on Tuesday, defence barrister Christopher Hopkins told the jury a phone containing a note about the incident had been erased.

Mr Hopkins said that the woman's credibility would be defined by the consistency of her evidence.

"Another striking feature, you may feel, is that the physical handset was only set up on 21 October 2021," Mr Hopkins said.

The incident was reported in December 2021.

Mr Hopkins said the alleged victim told police that the phone was the same handset on which she made the initial note 15 minutes after the incident allegedly happened in September 2020.

He suggested that the phone had been wiped, saying "the phone hasn't wiped itself, someone must have done it".

Mr Hopkins said: "Just 15 minutes after this incident happened... she's already had the awareness that she's going to make a note in her phone.

"You may think that is surprising in that she was so shaken by the incident, as the prosecution say she was."

Mr Hopkins detailed other inconsistencies, including that the alleged victim told a friend that Mr Meadows "had whispered a comment in her ear while touching her", but when asked if he had said anything to her at this point in court, she "flatly denied" it.

Another incident detailed in court was that Mr Meadows had grabbed his crotch towards her, but Mr Hopkins said there had been differing reports over whether Mr Meadows was stood up or sitting down.

Mr Hopkins also said that the woman had phoned in sick the day after the alleged incident, and that if she were to retrospectively choose a date to falsely accuse Mr Meadows, 25 September would work as "it fits the narrative".

The trial continues.

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