No verdict in PC rape trial

PC Paul Hamilton may face a re-trial

A jury has failed to reach a verdict on a Northamptonshire police officer who is accused of raping a woman.

Paul Hamilton, a constable, wept in court as the judge discharged the jurors after eight-and-a-half hours of deliberations.

The jurors also failed to reach a verdict on a charge of common assault.

Earlier they had cleared Mr Hamilton of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.

Case adjourned

Mr Hamilton, 36, of Wellingborough, denied all the charges against him.

The prosecution alleged that the victim, a middle-aged mother-of-two, was raped at her home on 30 September, 2000.

Stuart Rafferty, prosecuting, told Birmingham Crown Court that the police officer had tried to buy her silence with a pledge of cash and property.

He claimed Mr Hamilton got the woman to co-sign an agreement promising her his home and half his police pension provided she did not report the attack.

It was not until the following December that the woman had the courage to report the matter to a female PC, whom Mr Hamilton did not know, the court heard.

Judge Richard Griffith-Jones adjourned the case to allow prosecutors to consider whether to apply for a re-trial.