Ex-policeman jailed for attempted rape

12 April 2012

A former policeman convicted of attempted rape was jailed today for five years.

Lee Rackham, 33, was convicted by a jury of seven men and five women at Leeds Crown Court of attempted rape and two sexual assaults on three victims.

He was cleared of carrying out three other sexual assaults.

Rackham, who was a serving officer with Humberside Police when the offences took place, was told by Judge Scott Wolstenholme that he had seriously breached his position of trust.

Sentencing Rackham, the judge told him: "You rapidly personalised any encounters you had with women and forced yourself onto them in a sexual way.

"Your defence was that any sexual activity was consensual and you took the view that you did not realise any advances were unwelcome.

"You've served your country in the Armed Forces and I'm sure were a good police officer in your time but this was a most serious breach of trust."

The judge also told the former officer that a letter he had received from his wife, who was present in court and in tears as her husband was jailed, begged him to be merciful but could not help him escape a custodial sentence.

At an earlier hearing Rackham, who showed no emotion as he was handed the prison term, was also told he would have to sign the sex offenders register.

The court heard Rackham tried to rape the woman after he befriended her while attending a domestic dispute at her East Yorkshire home.

The jury was told he went round to her house and pushed her against her kitchen units and tried to rape her while her son was strapped into his pushchair in a nearby room.

Rackham, of Kent Road, Cottingham, East Yorkshire, denied the allegations.

At an earlier hearing, the woman who was the victim of the attempted rape broke down in tears as she described the sex attack.

Describing the incident, she told the jury: "He pushed me against the kitchen units. I was just concerned about my little boy in the room next door. Then I was furious."

Following the attack she claimed the officer was apologetic.

"He was sorry. He didn't want to lose his job or partner," she added.

She said she got to know the officer following a domestic incident which two officers, including Rackham, were sent to her house to investigate.

In the days after, she claimed Rackham made numerous phone calls to her home and on one occasion turned up in his police car while she was walking her dog.

"It got to the point where I thought I was being stalked," she told the jury.

Rackham's convictions for sexual assault relate to incidents with two different women. The court was told he met one women in a police station where the victim expressed interest in the forensic science service and Rackham went round to her house with information. Once inside her house he kissed her.

On another occasion he touched a woman's chest.

Rackham said he lied about being being married to establish a relationship with women he met while on duty.

He told the jury he was embarrassed and ashamed about the way he acted with the victims.

He admitted he told four women that he was single or that his marriage was in trouble because he was having a "rough patch" with his wife and he hoped that a relationship with the other women might progress.

He denied one charge of attempted rape and five of sexual assault between April 10 and September 1 last year.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in