Female police officer lied about her sergeant lover’s controlling behaviour, court hears
Female police officer lied about her sergeant lover’s controlling behaviour knowing it would lead to his arrest, court hears
- Surrey Police officer Amanda Aston ‘distorted difficulties in relationship’
- She is standing trial charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice
A female police officer lied about her sergeant lover’s controlling behaviour in the knowledge it would lead to his arrest, a court has heard.
Amanda Aston, an officer based at Guildford police station in Surrey, is said to have ‘distorted’ difficulties in her relationship with Matthew Taylor knowing he would likely face repercussions.
The 43-year-old, who was a trained domestic abuse mentor, made false allegations of ‘control, abuse, harassment, stalking, intimidation and gaslighting’ about Mr Taylor during a 57-page witness statement and a video recorded interview, the court heard.
Mr Taylor was subsequently charged with an offence of engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour and appeared in court, where he was remanded in custody, before eventually losing his job with Surrey Police, jurors were told.
He was eventually released from HMP Winchester, where he spent 23 hours of the day locked in a cell while on remand, when detective work by his mother led to the case against him being dropped. Mr Taylor then reported her to police himself.
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Amanda Aston, an officer based at Guildford police station in Surrey, is said to have ‘distorted’ difficulties in her relationship with Matthew Taylor
Aston is now standing trial at Maidstone Crown Court charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice between September 3, 2017, and March 22, 2018.
The court heard she claimed Mr Taylor would grab her around the throat during sex and had ‘tortured and traumatised’ her by going into graphic details about what another officer would do to her sexually.
Aston also completed what is known as a Domestic Abuse Stalking and Harassment questionnaire designed to ascertain what level of risk she was in, the court heard.
And she also accused him of ‘relentless bullying and undermining her’, with his behaviour on one occasion reaching ‘a scary level’.
But Eloise Marshall KC, prosecuting, said while their relationship was ‘undoubtedly unhealthy and argumentative’, her claims about her higher-ranking boyfriend were ‘dishonest and exaggerated.’
She added that any suggestion Aston was a genuine victim was ‘entirely undermined and completely contradicted’ by the hundreds of text messages between them.
Ms Marshall also told the court that what Aston had claimed to be ‘graphic’ references by Mr Taylor were in fact shown to be limited to just one comment about a custody sergeant wanting to ‘get in her knickers’.
She said: ‘This case isn’t about their relationship. It’s about the lies Amanda Aston chose to tell police about Matthew Taylor’s behaviour towards her and the effect of those lies.
‘You will probably conclude that neither Amanda Aston nor Matthew Taylor were what you call a dream date.
‘She clearly relished being the centre of attention while Mr Taylor was obviously annoying, always had to be right and always had to have the last word in their arguments. It was an unhappy, co-dependent relationship.
‘But we say Amanda Aston chose to make complaints to police in which she exaggerated and told lies about their relationship.
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The 43-year-old, who was a trained domestic abuse mentor, made false allegations of ‘control, abuse, harassment, stalking, intimidation and gaslighting’ about Mr Taylor
‘That resulted in Mr Taylor’s arrest for controlling, coercive behaviour against her. He was later charged with that offence and placed on police bail.’
The court heard a condition of his bail was not to contact Aston, but Ms Marshall said he was ‘encouraged and controlled’ to do so by Aston, who then reported him for repeatedly breaching his bail – claiming he ‘would not leave her alone’ and ‘pressurising her to continue to see him’.
The prosecutor added: ‘What she didn’t tell police was that she was active in initiating the contact with him and enthusiastic about not only maintaining contact with her but maintaining their relationship, even at times encouraging him to see her.
‘Amanda Aston was saying one thing to Mr Taylor and another to police. She told him she didn’t want this prosecution, it was out of her hands, she loved him and couldn’t live without him.
‘Meanwhile, she was telling police be had contacted her and turned up at various locations unwanted, including the cinema and one of the addresses she had had to move to to get away from him.
‘Sadly, the truth was she was encouraging him to meet her, often buying the tickets to go on a date, arranging the dates with him, and giving him the addresses of her new homes.
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Aston is now standing trial at Maidstone Crown Court (pictured) charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice between September 3, 2017, and March 22, 2018.
‘Those lies may have had less importance but for the fact Mr Taylor was arrested again as a result and spent two months in prison, locked in a cell for 23 hours a day.
‘It was only after tireless work by his mother investigating all their social media accounts and all their contact, much of which you will hear had been deleted by Aston, and passing it on to her son’s solicitor showing Aston had been in almost constant contact with him that he was released from prison and the charges against him were dropped.’
Aston, from Seaford, East Sussex, and who is still serving with Surrey Police, denies two offences of perverting the course of justice.
She is also accused of defrauding the Surrey Police Welfare Fund of £5,000 in June 2018 by claiming she suffered financial hardship as a result of having to move home several times due to Mr Taylor’s alleged behaviour.
The trial continues.