Court hears Pc tried to rape terrified schoolgirl

10:54am Wednesday 19th September 2001

An off-duty policeman tried to rape a schoolgirl in a West Hendon Street, the Old Bailey heard on Tuesday.

The 17-year-old girl, originally from Hong Kong, had walked more than six miles after storming out of a Camden restaurant following a petty argument with her sister on February 17 this year.

Shami Barnes, prosecuting, said the girl was not far from home when she was grabbed from behind and pushed into bushes in Wilberforce Road by PC Paul Miller, who works for the Territorial Support Group in North Finchley High Road.

To muffle her screams, PC Miller allegedly covered her mouth with both hands "so tightly that she thought he was going to kill her". He then hit her several times, leaving her bruised, scratched and her nose bleeding. When she stopped screaming, PC Miller pushed her against a wall, threw her glasses to the floor and pulled down her jeans and knickers. Moments later, police arrived and caught Miller.

"By this stage he had his flies open," said Miss Barnes. "He had his trouser belt undone and his jeans were down part way across his buttocks. A policeman said 'your trousers are undone'. He replied 'She'd done that'."

Several residents had heard the girl's terrified screams and had notified the police. Miller struggled with officers as he was taken to Harrow Police Station, said Miss Barnes.

The girl told the court that, despite the attack, she remains a virgin.

Miller, a father-of-one, denies the offence. He claimed he was walking to Hendon railway station to get the train to Harpenden when the girl approached him and said 'Do you want sex?', telling him she charged £25. He said that he agreed and she led him into the bushes.

The case continues.

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