A judge today (WEDS) slammed police officers who l

A judge today (WEDS) slammed police officers who left a woman at the roadside to be raped as they arrested her boyfriend for drink driving.

Officers could have taken the 27-year-old asylum seeker to the police station with them, the Old Bailey heard.

But they decided the Columbian, who speaks little English, was not vulnerable in east London in the early hours of the morning.

Patrick Gallagher, 24, offered her a lift in his friend’s car and raped her in the back seat as they drove off.

Judge Martin Stephens, QC, demanded an inquiry after hearing of circumstances of the case last month.

The sentencing judge, Mr Recorder Peter Rook, QC, today said he was also concerned about actions of the police officers.

The court heard the mother-of-one woman and her boyfriend were driving home after a night out drinking.

Police had been tipped off and pulled their car over in Romford Road, Manor Park.

‘During the course of the investigation it seemed to them that the driver was unfit through alcohol because of the way he was behaving,’ said prosecutor Mr Anthony Heaton-Armstrong.

‘It was apparent to the police that the victim had been drinking but not to such and extent that she was incapable of looking after her best interests.

‘It was apparent to the officers her home address was ten minutes walk or so away.

‘The road in which the car was stopped was a very busy road and at that time in the morning and it was well lit.

‘They made it clear to her that in spite of having got the impression from her she would prefer to have gone to the police station where they were taking her boyfriend, that was not feasible.

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Mr Heaton-Armstrong added the decision was ‘consistent with the Metropolitan police guidelines.

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The victim was then left at the roadside without any money.

‘She got into a bit of a panic about what to do next,’ the barrister said.

Gallagher and his friend pulled over and posed as Good Samaritans, pretending they were concerned about her situation.

They offered her a lift to the station and she gratefully got into the back seat only to realise the car was heading in the wrong direction.

‘The defendant, who had been the front seat, got in the back beside her,’ Mr Heaton-Armstrong said.

‘The defendant began to touch her and kiss her.

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When she tried to push him off and asked the driver for help she was told: ‘Calm down.

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‘The defendant started to undo his trousers,’ Mr Heaton-Armstrong said.

‘She realised what was going to happen and she opened the rear passenger door and tried to jump out while the car was moving.

‘The defendant dragged her back in and held her down.

‘Throughout what was happening she was struggling violently and asking him to stop.

She was screaming.

‘

When Gallagher had finished the distraught victim was dropped off in Leyton where she flagged down another car.

The rapist has previous convictions for robbery and drink driving and was traced through his DNA.

He was arrested when he went to pick up his dole money at the post office in Leytonstone High Road.

Gallagher, of Montague Road, Leytonstone, admitted the rape in the early hours of of October 13, 2002.

The judge (Mr Recorder Rook) said: ‘I am concerned the guidelines in stopping someone for drink driving in the early hours of the morning – that they lead to someone who is vulnerable being left in an exposed position in the early hours.

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Mr Heaton-Armstrong said the police handbook states that ‘non police passengers should be kept to a minimum.

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‘The driver has discretion and the position rests with the driver as to whom the driver should allow in his vehicle,’ he said.

‘The officers took the view that whereas the victim had been drinking, she was in such control of herself that caused them not to have any concern for her vulnerability.

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He added: ‘The police officers didn’t get the impression from the way in which she communicated with them that she was bursting with things to say.

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But the judge added: ‘I still remain concerned that someone who was obviously in a vulnerable situation was stranded at three or four in the morning,’ he said.

The judge will pass sentence later this afternoon.

ends

addslam.