A POLICEMAN from Rainhill asked a prostitute to perform a sex act on him while he was on duty, it was alleged in court.

David Gibson, who was an acting sergeant at the time, allegedly drove the woman to a secluded place in an umarked police car.

Gibson, 44, of Kirkman Fold, denies the allegations against him but a jury at Liverpool Crown Court was told by the prosecution his "accounts are implausible and fail to properly explain the forensic findings".

Maria Masselis, prosecuting, claimed: "He grossly abused his position as a police officer, taking advantage of a vulnerable woman for his own sexual gratification.

"It is an inescapable conclusion that such behaviour amounts to misconduct because he could not have been properly performing police duties at the time."

Gibson denies one charge of misconduct in public office.

Miss Masselis told the court that Gibson had been on night duty based at Eaton Road, Liverpool, overnight on November 6, 2014 and in the early hours of the morning went out in an unmarked police car, a silver Ford Focus.

"He did not tell the control room where he was going or made any record of where he went or anyone he spoke to."

Later examination of CCTV footage and automatic number plate recognition showed him driving around in the Sheil Road area of Tuebrook - an area known to be populated by sex workers, she said.

Shortly before 5am the woman, an alcoholic suffering drug withdrawal symptoms, who had noticed the car driving up and down saw it pull into a side street. She assumed he was "a punter" but when she got in she saw he was wearing his police uniform and he identified himself as a police officer.

When later interviewed by police she told how "he said he had watched her walking up and down the road. He gave her three options - arrest, pay a fine or he could be 'a nice man' and let her go," claimed Miss Masselis.

When she told him to arrest her he refused and when she told him to give her a fine he said she would be unable to pay it, she said.

"She asked him to be 'a nice man' and let her go and she promised to stay away from the streets. He did not allow her to leave saying he could get into trouble for letting her go. He asked what she could or would do for him before she went."

"She pretended not to understand but realised that he wanted her to perform a sexual act upon him… He drove to a more secluded location to enable that sexual act to take place," alleged Miss Masselis.

"She described herself as feeling sick and disgusted by what had happened. He dropped her back at the same location where he had earlier picked her up about 20 minutes later leaving her shocked and upset."

Miss Masselis said when the woman, who is now 30, got home she told her boyfriend and two other people. Two days later a charity worker dealing with street workers overheard her telling another prostitute about the incident and this led to another volunteer working speaking to her and eventually she went to the police and was able to give them the last three registration letters of the car he had used.

When the police car was forensically examined a semen stain was found on the passenger seat and when questioned about this in November that year Gibson said she had approached the vehicle "offering to do business".

He claimed she had given him intelligence about local drug dealing although there was no note of him recording the addresses he said she had given.

He denied a sex act had taken place involving the two of them but following the results of a forensic examination, "he shifted his account to meet the findings", alleged Miss Masselis.

She told the jury: "He has either been the victim of unfortunate coincidences or you will be led to the conclusion she is telling the truth about having performed a sex act on him."

The case continues