By Sheila Mckenzie-
A Lancashire police officer accused of sexually molesting five female colleagues was incredibly cleared this afternoon in a sexual assault case that risked jeo
A jury found PC Anthony Ford not guilty of all 13 offences of sexual assault , after numerous allegations against him by his female colleagues.
A senior judge told him that he needed to address his appalling prehistoric attitudes towards women.
Judge Andrew Menary, QC, the Recorder of Liverpool told him, “You leave the court as you entered – a man with no previous convictions.
“But I say to you you should not take the verdicts of the jury as some verdict, by your own admission, on how you behaved in the past. There is much more to being a police officer than chasing around after drug dealers.”
Judge Menary said, “I don’t know what is going to happen to you, as I say you have been found not guilty and I don’t know if there are pending disciplinary proceedings or not.
“But at the very least I would think that those responsible for you in the police force ought to send you for some sort of diversity training because by own judgement your prehistoric attitudes towards women are quite appalling and you need to consider the way you behaved otherwise you will find yourself at risk of a similar situation in the future.”
After the jury of eight women and three men delivered their unanimous verdicts following three hours 26 minutes deliberations one of the females wiped away tears and another smiled over at Ford. His wife, who is also a police officer, broke down in tears in the public gallery.
Prosecutor Fiona McNeill had told jurors that the offences involved “unsophisticated and serial groping. He had no regard for appropriate boundaries.”
She told the jury the Crown claimed “his sole driving force was momentary gratification…..A damn fine officer he may be but that does not place him above the law.”
Unwanted Touching
The trial heard that his behaviour included putting his hand down the back of victims’ trousers, touching their bottoms, undoing the clasps of the bras of two women and walking down the street cupping the breasts of one of them.
Ford, who was then based in Burnley, disputed the women’s evidence and denied that any of his actions were sexually motivated.
He expressed surprise at the complaints “particularly having ten years unblemished career and then five people come forward within a few weeks.”
Laugh
Ford said, “I never touched a bum except for a laugh or someone had done it to me.”.
He described it as “a laugh and a joke between people I deemed on a similar wave length to him or had done it to me first.”
He said that unclipping bras was “a bit of a childish joke” and said such behaviour happened “on many police do’s”. He also claimed that officers touched each others bottoms in the police station “quite regularly”.
Flirtatious
The officer described two of the alleged victims as “flirtatious”. He denied cupping the breasts of one woman and said that he only touched them later to check they were real but that was with her consent.
“Do you feel you have done anything wrong in relation to these women?” asked Miss McNeill. “No,” he replied.
Richard Orme, defending, had told the jury in his closing speech that Ford was “being made an example of by the politically correct brigade of the police and they have sought to find anything and everything to throw at him.”
He went on to describe the case as “absurd and ridiculous and blown out of all common sense in the brave new world in which we live now.”
Mr Orme said that Ford is “an extrovert and a live wire, particularly in drink and with friends. He has a child-like exuberance”
He said that a witness had described the defendant as “like a five-year-old on speed who would never run out of energy.”
Mr Orne told jurors the officer could be over-familiar, over-tactile but that is a million miles away from making him a sex offender.”
Hands Down Victims Trousers
The officer stands accused of putting his hand down the back of victims’ trousers, undoing the clasps of the bras of two women and walking down the street cupping the breasts of one of them.
The first incident allegedly took place while both he and the complainant, PCSO, were on duty and on two subsequent occasions while she was on duty but when he was off.
The alleged offences in relation to the other women allegedly occurred while he was away from work drinking and socialising with colleagues, sometimes in the presence of his fiancee, also a police officer.
On the first occasion Ford allegedly put his hands down the back of the top of the PCSO, who had never previously met him, while they were attending a police incident. He allegedly said, “I knew PCSOs were useful for something” and when asked what he was doing he said he was just warming his hands.
Seven months later Ford, who was taking part in the Pendle pub walk in Barrowford, asked if she could give him and others a lift. After he got in the car he allegedly reached round and felt her bottom saying, ‘Oh I just had to feel your bum.”
Later that evening, while on patrol she and a colleague again gave him a lift. This time while sitting behind her, he put his hand down her pants and touched her bottom, claimed Miss McNeill.
In November 2019 while Ford, who was based at Burnley, was visiting the police station at Nelson she decided for the sake of her women colleagues she should tell her bosses about the the incidents.
The following month another serving officer told police that while at a colleague’s wedding that summer, Ford started hugging her and acted in a flirtatious manner. While sitting at a table he put his hand on her leg, tried to lift her trouser leg up and then tried to laugh it off when she objected.
She also accused him of trying to put his hand down her trousers, but said they were too tight.
According to the complaining officer, later while on the dance floor, he tried again and his finger went down between the cheeks of her bottom. When she told him to stop he again tried to laugh it off.
Later on the dance floor he allegedly “pinged” her bra causing it to become unclipped and she stormed off. But undeterred later in the evening he came and sat on her knee and ignored her request to get off while laughing and chatting to other people. The jury heard that he admits pinging her bra strap and he does not face a charge in relation to that act.
The next alleged victim told how Ford was “touchy feely” on a group night out in Leeds and tried to put his hand down the back of her trousers and when she complained he said he was joking.
However he went on to put his hand between her legs and was nipping them leaving her bruised. The group moved on to another bar and en route Ford cupped her breasts from behind, she claimed, and at the next bar he put his hand down the back of her trousers and between her legs.
Bottom Grabbing
The following month on another group night, this time in Burnley, he allegedly grabbed the bottom of a married woman colleague on three separate occasions and she later commented to another colleague that it was “odd behaviour” in front of his partner.
Later the same month on a night to with colleagues in Manchester he is alleged to have put his hand down the back of another married colleague’s trousers and undid her bra. She told him to pack it in but put it down to “Tony being Tony”.
He admitted to the jury that he put his hands down the back of the PCSO’s top to warm his hands and said his comments were part of an on-going joke between police officers and PCSOs. He denied obtaining some sort of thrill and said she had laughed.
He said she later touched him on the bum with a folder and he touched her bum saying, “Now I’ve got you back” as a joke but denied putting his hand under her bottom in the car.
Questioned by Miss McNeill he agreed he was a proactive officer but denied being arrogant. “I am confident but I would not describe myself as arrogant,” he said.
He said he had been surprised at the complaints “particularly having 10 years unblemished career and then five people come forward within a few weeks.”
Ford said, “I never touched a bum except for a laugh or someone had done it to me.”.
He described it as “a laugh and a joke between people I deemed on a similar wave length to him or had done it to me first.”
He pointed out he touched the bottoms of men he played football with if a goal was scored and described it as a sign of affection.
But he said, “I have not put my hand down women’s trousers.”
Childish Joke
Further questioned he said that unclipping bras was “a bit of a childish joke”, though could not recall one of the alleged incidents, and said such behaviour happened “on many police do’s”. He also claimed that officers touched each others bottoms in the police station “quite regularly”.
He denied it was behaviour he could not control and described two of the alleged victims as “flirtatious”.
He denied cupping the breasts of one woman and said that he only touched them later to check they were real but that was with her consent.
“Do you feel you have done anything wrong in relation to these women?” asked Miss McNeill. “No,” he replied.
He went on to say, “If I misread the situation or done something misguided, I would apologise and explain I did not mean any ill harm.”
But he said he had not felt he had done anything wrong or misguided.
Richard Orme, defending, said today (Wed) that Ford was “being made an example of by the politically correct brigade of the police and they have sought to find anything and everything to throw at him.”
He went on to describe the case as “absurd and ridiculous and blown out of all common sense in the brave new world in which we live now.”
Extrovert And Live Wire
Mr Orme successfully persuaded the jury that his client was tactile, but not a sex offender.
Describing Ford as “an extrovert and a live wire, particularly in drink and with friends, Mr Orme said he has a child-like exuberance”
Making reference to the statement of a witness who had described the defendant as “like a five-year-old on speed who would never run out of energy.”
He had demonstrated tactile behaviour with both men and women and has “a cheeky sense of humour – or used to before this sorry saga.
The not guilty verdict came as a blow to the complaining female officers- all five of whom felt Mr Ford’s actions amounted to sexual molestation.
However, his past good record alongside the professional competence of his barrister may have got him off all the charges.