Leicestershire police officer sacked after sexual misconduct hearing
He pinned the woman to a bed
Last updated 22nd Aug 2023
A Leicestershire police officer who pinned a woman to a bed and bit her has been sacked after a sexual misconduct hearing.
The hearing ruled Jake Cooke-Wilkinson’s actions were “deliberate”, “very serious” and “amounted to gross misconduct”, and he was dismissed from the force without notice.
Mr Cooke-Wilkinson met the woman, named as Miss A in the hearing report, at a late-night bar in Leamington Spa in August 2022.
The two had a conversation about art, which, the panel said, was “essentially a guise to ensure that Miss A returned to his flat so that he could engage in sexual relations”.
The hearing was told he asked the woman to bite him, saying he got "gratification from giving and receiving pain".
Mr Cooke-Wilkinson then picked her up “in a caveman-like manner”, “put her over his shoulder”, “carried her into his bedroom”, and “threw her onto his bed”.
He did not check Miss A consented to this, the report said.
He pinned her to the bed, holding her down with his hands on her right shoulder and her neck, and bit her repeatedly on her left shoulder, bruising her, it added.
The woman tried to escape but was held forcefully down.
Miss A said she thought he would stop if she fell asleep, which she eventually did.
She later reported the incident after work colleagues convinced her to go to the police, but she did not want to proceed with a criminal investigation.
The misconduct hearing panel ruled Mr Cooke-Wilkinson paid “little or no regard to whether Miss A consented to any sexual contact beyond kissing because of his desire to have sex with her”.
Mr Cooke-Wilkinson “did not show any remorse or insight into his conduct”, the panel said.
He maintained throughout the hearing that what happened was “essentially consensual sexual conduct between two consenting adults”.
The panel ruled his evidence was “self-serving” and “lacking in credibility”, however.
Head of professional standards at Leicestershire Police, Detective superintendent Rich Ward, said: “The panel found that the behaviour and actions of former PC Cooke-Wilkinson showed little or no regard as to whether consent was being given for sexual contact.
“We take any report of this nature extremely seriously. This behaviour is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated by us in force."