Detective Sergeant, 41, ‘sexually assaulted three fellow officers and advised one “he wasn’t getting any” as a result of his spouse was pregnant’, courtroom hears

A Detective Sergeant allegedly sexually assaulted three female colleagues and told one he ‘wasn’t getting any because his wife was pregnant’, a court has heard. 

Liverpool Crown Court heard one of Richard Mills’ alleged victims claim that he molested her on three separate occasions as she described him as ‘a dirty pervert’. 

The woman claimed that the serving Greater Manchester Police detective put her hand on his trousers over his erect penis while she was driving him, and alleged that he had been talking about a lack of intimacy with his pregnant wife. 

It is alleged that he also put his hands on her breasts and smacked her bum on two other occasions. 

A second woman has claimed that Mills, 41, put her hand on his penis over his clothing, while a third woman alleges that he stroked her right leg from her thigh to her ankle while sitting in a car together during work hours. 

Mills, of Oakley Way, Wardle, Rochdale, denies five offences of sexual assault. 

Robert Dudley, prosecuting, told the jury the offences allegedly took place between 2014 and the summer of 2022. 

The court heard that the first woman made an internal police complaint in 2016 but did not pursue it because it had been instilled in her when she joined the force that ‘you don’t make complaints against bobbies’. 

She renewed her complaint in December 2020. 

In the first alleged incident, it was claimed that Mills came behind her when she was sitting at her desk and put both his hands on her breasts over her clothing. 

‘He only touched her for seconds because she shrugged the defendant off her, but that was deliberate, intentional touching of a sexual nature without consent,’ said Mr Dudley told the court. 

A colleague who witnessed the alleged incident told their sergeant but, when asked about it later, the woman said ‘to leave and that she would deal with it’.  

The second alleged offence occurred when she was driving to see a colleague with Mills. Her video recorded police interview was played to the jury, in which she claims Mills was ‘telling me what sexual things he liked and how he liked to have sex. 

‘He said he was not getting it because his wife was pregnant’, she claimed. 

She said she did not respond to what he said, and alleged that he then ‘took my hand off the gear stick and put it on his penis’. 

She said she put her hand back on the steering wheel and said ‘f*** off Rick’.

The court heard that she went in to see her colleague, who was off work with stress at the time, who commented that she looked ‘as white as a sheet’. 

When she told her colleague what had allegedly happened, she was advised to tell her sergeant. 

She did so, but again was advised that the issue would be dealt with by her supervisor. 

The court heard that the alleged third incident involving the same woman happened when she was making a cup of tea at work. 

She claimed that Mills came up behind her and slapped her on the bottom, which she relayed to the rest of her team. 

The woman alleged that Mills frequently made sexual innuendos but that she and others ‘did not entertain him, we didn’t enter into conversation’.

‘Even though he was a strong character he was very immature’, she said. 

Mills was interviewed about the allegation in October 2021 and, in a prepared statement, he said he did not accept that he was guilty of any criminal offence and had not touched the woman in a sexual manner. 

Mr Dudley told the court that the second alleged victim claimed that Mills sexually assaulted her when they were together on a leadership course.

She claimed that Mills was complaining that the course was boring, and that he began telling her that she looked nice and that he was turned on. 

‘She said that there came a point where he picked up her left hand and placed it on his crotch area and then pressed it down onto his penis for five to 10 seconds – she said that it felt hard’, Mr Dudley told the court. 

She said she did not want to draw attention to what was allegedly happening, but said she did pull her hand away and tucked it between her crossed legs. 

The court heard that Mills allegedly asked her sexually explicit questions as they drove back to Manchester, including ‘who was the oldest person she had slept with’ and ‘would you ever have sex in a car or at work?’.  

She also claimed that he had previously brushed up against her. 

The third complainant claimed that Mills stroked her from ‘the inside of her right leg down to her ankle’. 

The woman claimed that she was holding a cardboard tray with drinks in it on her lap in a car after she and Mills had gone to get a Friday night takeaway for themselves and their colleagues. 

‘The defendant said that her legs and bum looked nice’, Mr Dudley told the court. ‘He reached over and put his hand on her thigh, then he stroked over her tights from the inside of her right leg down to her ankle. 

‘She was worried about spilling the drinks so she did nothing about it’. 

It was some time later that she reported the alleged incident to her supervisor. 

Mills was subsequently interviewed about the two alleged incident and he denied sexually assaulting them. 

The case continues.