A Metropolitan Police officer who used duct tape to restrain a woman asked her “who are you going to tell? I am the police”, a court has heard.
PC Sam Grigg, 36, tied his flatmate to the sofa by her wrists and ankles and later hurt her twice with a kitchen knife as he cut her free, Kingston Crown Court heard.
The young woman said she “100% thought” she was going to be raped by Grigg during what was described as “10 minutes of terror”.
Grigg was sacked from the Met after being charged and previously pleading guilty at the same court to false imprisonment and assault against the woman.
Ahead of his sentencing on Friday afternoon, the court heard the officer, who was not on duty at the time, approached his flatmate in the kitchen of the townhouse they shared in Twickenham, southwest London, while their other flatmates were out on 2 December last year.
Prosecutor Alexander Agbamu said Grigg grabbed the woman’s wrists and pulled her towards him before bending her over the sofa and tying her ankles together and taping over her mouth.
At one point Grigg left to answer the door before “smiling” down at her as she attempted to free herself by edging towards a drawer she believed might have a knife inside.
The woman asked him to remove the bindings and Grigg replied: “If you ask nicely, I’ll take them off.”
He eventually got a knife from the kitchen and used it to cut the tape, nicking her ankle and wrist in the process.
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‘Who are you going to tell?’
She asked him to avoid slicing her again after the first cut, to which Grigg said: “What will you do if I do… Who are you going to tell? I am the police”.
One of the first things the woman did after the assault was message a friend: “I genuinely, like 100%, thought he was going to rape me.”
Grigg was arrested mid-shift at Mitcham Police Station and a search of his bedroom uncovered a bag of cable ties, several pairs of handcuffs – including two which were police-issue – bundles of rope, a gig and a ball, and four silk cloths.
Victim impact statement
Mr Agbamu said since the attack the woman has struggled to sleep, did not eat for a long time and has self-harmed.
He said “aggravating factors” included “the pleasure the defendant seemed to derive from the incident”, his position as a police officer and the “clear sexual overtone” of the attack.
Defending, John Howey said: “He (Grigg) says it would not have progressed beyond the tying up phase to rape or any other form of sexual assault.”
