Lee Cocking, 41, a former Avon and Somerset police sergeant, was charged with misconduct in a public office following the incident in the early hours of Christmas Eve 2017. He was found not guilty by a jury at Gloucester Crown Court but later appeared before a police disciplinary panel accused of breaching professional standards. However, Mr Cocking was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing after the independent commission concluded it was more likely he had been the victim of a sexual assault. The incident happened when Mr Cocking – who was an acting inspector – gave the woman a lift home in an unmarked police car after she was kicked out of the Skinny Dippers bar in Weston-super-Mare. Giving evidence, he described it as an “out of body experience” when the woman suddenly pulled him away and removed her underwear. The woman, who cannot be identified, did not file a complaint against the officer and did not claim she had been sexually assaulted.
The force was criticized for its handling of the incident
In his first police interview on the matter in January 2018, the officer had insisted he was the victim. But the disciplinary panel – whose findings have only just been made public – said this had not been pursued vigorously enough by investigators. They also criticized the force for deciding too easily “who was the victim and who was the perpetrator”. In its findings the commission admitted that Mr Cocking’s case was “hard to believe” when it was first considered, saying: “The most immediate conclusion is that he is guilty.” But he went on to say there were gaps in the evidence and it was “certainly not possible” to say Mr Cocking lied. The panel also said offering a lift to a drunken woman who was alone with no money for a taxi in the early hours of the morning had “realistic policing”, saying she would have been criticized if she had not been “monitored”. “We find his version more likely to be true than the suggestion that the sex between them was consensual,” he concluded. Mr Cocking retired from the force in July on medical grounds after being cleared of breaching police officers’ standards of professional conduct in relation to honesty and integrity and disparaging behaviour.
title: “Cop Prosecuted For Having Sex With Drunk Woman On Duty Was Actually The Victim Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-04” author: “James Teague”
Lee Cocking, 41, a former Avon and Somerset police sergeant, was charged with misconduct in a public office following the incident in the early hours of Christmas Eve 2017. He was found not guilty by a jury at Gloucester Crown Court but later appeared before a police disciplinary panel accused of breaching professional standards. However, Mr Cocking was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing after the independent commission concluded it was more likely he had been the victim of a sexual assault. The incident happened when Mr Cocking – who was an acting inspector – gave the woman a lift home in an unmarked police car after she was kicked out of the Skinny Dippers bar in Weston-super-Mare. Giving evidence, he described it as an “out of body experience” when the woman suddenly pulled him away and removed her underwear. The woman, who cannot be identified, did not file a complaint against the officer and did not claim she had been sexually assaulted.
The force was criticized for its handling of the incident
In his first police interview on the matter in January 2018, the officer had insisted he was the victim. But the disciplinary panel – whose findings have only just been made public – said this had not been pursued vigorously enough by investigators. They also criticized the force for deciding too easily “who was the victim and who was the perpetrator”. In its findings the commission admitted that Mr Cocking’s case was “hard to believe” when it was first considered, saying: “The most immediate conclusion is that he is guilty.” But he went on to say there were gaps in the evidence and it was “certainly not possible” to say Mr Cocking lied. The panel also said offering a lift to a drunken woman who was alone with no money for a taxi in the early hours of the morning had “realistic policing”, saying she would have been criticized if she had not been “monitored”. “We find his version more likely to be true than the suggestion that the sex between them was consensual,” he concluded. Mr Cocking retired from the force in July on medical grounds after being cleared of breaching police officers’ standards of professional conduct in relation to honesty and integrity and disparaging behaviour.
title: “Cop Prosecuted For Having Sex With Drunk Woman On Duty Was Actually The Victim Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-19” author: “Marion Mccleery”
Lee Cocking, 41, a former Avon and Somerset police sergeant, was charged with misconduct in a public office following the incident in the early hours of Christmas Eve 2017. He was found not guilty by a jury at Gloucester Crown Court but later appeared before a police disciplinary panel accused of breaching professional standards. However, Mr Cocking was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing after the independent commission concluded it was more likely he had been the victim of a sexual assault. The incident happened when Mr Cocking – who was an acting inspector – gave the woman a lift home in an unmarked police car after she was kicked out of the Skinny Dippers bar in Weston-super-Mare. Giving evidence, he described it as an “out of body experience” when the woman suddenly pulled him away and removed her underwear. The woman, who cannot be identified, did not file a complaint against the officer and did not claim she had been sexually assaulted.
The force was criticized for its handling of the incident
In his first police interview on the matter in January 2018, the officer had insisted he was the victim. But the disciplinary panel – whose findings have only just been made public – said this had not been pursued vigorously enough by investigators. They also criticized the force for deciding too easily “who was the victim and who was the perpetrator”. In its findings the commission admitted that Mr Cocking’s case was “hard to believe” when it was first considered, saying: “The most immediate conclusion is that he is guilty.” But he went on to say there were gaps in the evidence and it was “certainly not possible” to say Mr Cocking lied. The panel also said offering a lift to a drunken woman who was alone with no money for a taxi in the early hours of the morning had “realistic policing”, saying she would have been criticized if she had not been “monitored”. “We find his version more likely to be true than the suggestion that the sex between them was consensual,” he concluded. Mr Cocking retired from the force in July on medical grounds after being cleared of breaching police officers’ standards of professional conduct in relation to honesty and integrity and disparaging behaviour.
title: “Cop Prosecuted For Having Sex With Drunk Woman On Duty Was Actually The Victim Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-30” author: “Lula Carrillo”
Lee Cocking, 41, a former Avon and Somerset police sergeant, was charged with misconduct in a public office following the incident in the early hours of Christmas Eve 2017. He was found not guilty by a jury at Gloucester Crown Court but later appeared before a police disciplinary panel accused of breaching professional standards. However, Mr Cocking was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing after the independent commission concluded it was more likely he had been the victim of a sexual assault. The incident happened when Mr Cocking – who was an acting inspector – gave the woman a lift home in an unmarked police car after she was kicked out of the Skinny Dippers bar in Weston-super-Mare. Giving evidence, he described it as an “out of body experience” when the woman suddenly pulled him away and removed her underwear. The woman, who cannot be identified, did not file a complaint against the officer and did not claim she had been sexually assaulted.
The force was criticized for its handling of the incident
In his first police interview on the matter in January 2018, the officer had insisted he was the victim. But the disciplinary panel – whose findings have only just been made public – said this had not been pursued vigorously enough by investigators. They also criticized the force for deciding too easily “who was the victim and who was the perpetrator”. In its findings the commission admitted that Mr Cocking’s case was “hard to believe” when it was first considered, saying: “The most immediate conclusion is that he is guilty.” But he went on to say there were gaps in the evidence and it was “certainly not possible” to say Mr Cocking lied. The panel also said offering a lift to a drunken woman who was alone with no money for a taxi in the early hours of the morning had “realistic policing”, saying she would have been criticized if she had not been “monitored”. “We find his version more likely to be true than the suggestion that the sex between them was consensual,” he concluded. Mr Cocking retired from the force in July on medical grounds after being cleared of breaching police officers’ standards of professional conduct in relation to honesty and integrity and disparaging behaviour.
