A woman claims that she was left feeling “ashamed and humiliated” after she was sexually assaulted by a North Yorkshire Police officer while he was on duty.

PC Christopher Hudson is accused of assaulting the woman in a police van, while he was parked at Stonefall Cemetery on Wetherby Road in Harrogate, on February 8 in 2021.

During a trial at Leeds Crown Court, she said the 32-year-old officer grabbed her by the back of the neck, kissed her and touched her inner thigh.

She told the court that she made it “very clear” she did not want to have sex with him and had “a very long list as to why it was not a good idea”.

Stonefall Cemetery in Wetherby Road, Harrogate,

Hudson, who was based in Harrogate, denies one count of sexual assault.

Rebecca Hadgett, defending, asked the woman if she “instigated the first move” by moving into the seat next to the officer and kissing him.

But the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Hudson told her to move towards him and then grabbed her by the neck.

“I remember it very, very clearly because it was cold and it was just around the back of my neck,” she said.

“I made it very, very clear in the van that I did not want to do anything in the van. I was very, very clear about it. And yet he still continued.”

The woman also told the court she felt “ashamed and humiliated” and she “struggled to come to terms with exactly what happened”.

The jury was also read messages sent three days before the incident, which showed the woman had discussed having sex with Hudson, during conversations with two friends.

In one message, she told a friend: “I think I’m going to have sex with Chris”.

When asked about the messages, she said she was “weighing up” her options at the time and wanted advice, but eventually decided that she was not going to go through with it.

She was also asked about a message sent to the defendant after the incident on February 8, which stated: “I don't want it to be awkward at all. I like spending time with you”.

She said: “I needed the relationship to remain as friendly as it possibly could. That was one of my main priorities a lot along with getting out of it as unscathed as I possibly could.”

Hudson, of Hollin Terrace in Huddersfield, and suspended by North Yorkshire Police after the allegation was made.

The trial continues.

Woman claims on-duty North Yorkshire Police officer sexually assaulted her