By Ashley Young-
A former Metropolitan Police officer accused of rape tied up one of his victims and threatened to stab her, a court heard.
Cliff Mitchell, 24, of Toland Square in Putney, is on trial charged with 13 counts of rape, including six counts of rape against a girl – three when she was under 13-years-old.
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The woman, described as being ”distraught and scared” woman – who had her hands bound together with cable ties – was seen running through traffic in September last year.
It was after he threatened to stab and slit one victim’s throat in September 2023 that police were called and an investigation was launched, Croydon Crown Court heard.
The prosecution case is that the woman got into a car where Mitchell warned her that if she tried to run away he would stab her and another person who was in the vehicle, telling her, “I don’t care about my life any more, you’ve met the devil”, the court heard.
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Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly also told the court that Mitchell responded with threats when the woman said she was feeling sick in the car.
She said: “The defendant told her, ‘If you throw up in the car, I’m gonna slit your belly for every second you throw up’.”
The woman, whose hands were bound by cable ties, got out of the car to be sick and took the chance to run away, the court heard.
Mitchell is charged with six counts of rape against a girl, including three when she was under 13 years old.
Among these six charges of rape are three counts which state there were at least 30 other occasions where the girl may have been similarly assaulted.
All of the above alleged offences took place between January 2014 and April 2017.
Mitchell is also charged with seven counts of rape against a woman between April 2020 and September 2023, and with breaching a non-molestation order as well as two counts of kidnapping.
The police officer has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Ms Farrelly told the jury that “for the latter part of that period (of the alleged offences), he was a serving officer with the Metropolitan Police”.
The jury heard that the allegations came to light after a woman, who looked “distraught and scared”, was seen running between traffic in September 2023.
The court heard she was screaming: “He held a knife up to me, I’m so scared.”
Ms Farrelly said the alleged victim was helped by a driver who allowed her to hide in her car and who spotted the cable ties.
Ms Farrelly noted the woman driver had said: “They were so tight that the surrounding skin had turned very red and they looked as though they were digging in.”
Another passerby, who came over to both women in the car as they waited for the police to arrive, said he heard the alleged victim “crying” and noticed that her hands were tied together with cable ties.
The prosecution claim Mitchell sexually abused his first alleged victim from 2014 through to 2017 and the abuse of his second alleged victim was between 2020 to 2023.
Ms Farrelly said: “Despite their clearest protestations, he forced his sexual will upon them both, time and time again.”
Mitchell denies the allegations from both females which he says have been fabricated against him.
The trial continues.
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