A female police officer told another woman 'I know the law' before sexually assaulting her, a court has heard.

Fiona Anderson, a police constable with Devon and Cornwall Police, is on trial accused of two counts of sexual assault in 2018 while she was visiting Cardiff.

Anderson, 33, is alleged to have performed oral sex on the other woman without consent, while she is also accused of touching the victim intimate parts without consent. She denies the charges. 

The two incidents reportedly took place in Cardiff while the defendant was off duty.

Anderson was initially arrested and bailed in March 2023 and was suspended by Devon and Cornwall Police

The alleged victim told her, 'I don't want to have sex with you', while Anderson kept persisting, a jury at Bristol Crown Court heard.

Anderson appeared in court wearing a pink striped shirt and grey trousers, with blonde hair in a ponytail. 

Opening the trial today, prosecutor Emma Martin said Anderson, from Exeter, was described as 'disgustingly drunk' on the night of the alleged offence. 

Despite it being clear that the victim did not want to have sex, Anderson 'was not taking no for an answer' and started to kiss and bite her, the jury heard.

Ms Martin said Anderson was becoming 'rougher' with the alleged victim and took off her underwear.

The prosecutor told the court: 'Fiona said these words to her, "I know the law, I need you to say yes."' 

She added: '(The complainant) was physically not reciprocating at all.'

Ms Martin said the complainant had felt like 'she could not turn to anyone' because Anderson was a police officer.

She added: '(The complainant) said no and Fiona just carried on anyway.'

Prosecutors said that it was clear that night that the woman 'did not want any sexual contact with her'.

The complainant told police in a video interview that she 'struggled to understand' and 'get past' what happened to her.

Ms Martin said: 'It's crossed the line from one-sided sexual advance to sexual offending.'

In a police video interview, in tears, the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said about the alleged assault: 'I just froze because I felt that I communicated enough that I wasn’t interested, but she couldn’t let it go.'

But the complainant said Anderson told her: 'I need you to say yes.'

She added: 'I just couldn't believe that was happening.

'She was getting pleasure from it, and I wasn’t.'

The victim is due to take to the witness stand tomorrow to give evidence when the trial resumes.

The court heard that the complainant finally informed police about the alleged sexual assault in March 2023, when she spoke to an officer about a 'completely unrelated' incident in a pub. 

The trial heard when the police were called to the pub, the victim could not initially engage with police officers.

The prosecutor said: 'She felt completely panicked. She got to the point thinking, "this is exhausting, I have to carry this secret. I have got to tell somebody what had happened",' the prosecution told the court.

The police officer at the pub could see that 'there was something wrong' with her and that was how the woman's story eventually came out, the court was told. 

Ms Martin added: 'This is a completely innocent way that the story has come out.'

The trial, listed for four days, continues.