Norwich police officer found guilty of sexual assault
PC Ben Poole, 25, has been convicted of two counts of sexual assault following incidents in Norwich in October 2022
Last updated 4th Jul 2025
A Norfolk police officer has been found guilty of two counts of sexual assault after incidents at a Norwich nightspot on 1 October 2022. PC Ben Poole, 25, was cleared of a third charge at Ipswich Crown Court today after a four-day trial.
The jury found Poole guilty of sexually assaulting a man and a woman by touching them without their consent. He was acquitted of assaulting another woman on the same evening.
The court heard that the assaults took place during a night out when Poole was celebrating a birthday. Security staff at the venue asked him to leave because of his drunken behaviour.
The allegations came to light after an internal investigation by Norfolk Constabulary’s Professional Standards Department (PSD). Poole denied the charges and told investigators he had no memory of the events and did not think he was drunk. He said his drink may have been spiked but admitted that if the events happened as described, they would amount to sexual assault.
Chief Constable Paul Sanford said: “I am absolutely appalled by Poole’s behaviour, which is both deeply concerning and distressing for his victims who had been forced to relive their experiences. It is testament to their courage in speaking up that we have been able to bring Poole to account and, hopefully, seek justice on their behalf. The public rightly expects officers to uphold the law when on and off duty and we will always remove officers who fall short of our standards. Any form of sexual assault is totally unacceptable, and we will always take action against any offender.”
Poole was based in the Great Yarmouth area at the time and was suspended as soon as the allegations were reported. The internal misconduct process was paused until after the criminal case was concluded to avoid prejudice.
He is due to be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on 29 August 2025.