A SERVING police officer wept in the witness box as he denied rape, describing it as a ‘malicious’ false allegation.

West Mercia police officer Gary Jones broke down as he denied two counts of rape during his trial at Worcester Crown Court yesterday. The 45-year-old is accused of carrying out the rapes between June and September 2006.

The court heard Jones, who has worked for West Mercia in Worcester and Malvern, attempted suicide, taking an overdose of 48 tablets in January 2006. Paramedics attended his home. At the time he had £45,000 debt and a house in negative equity, the court heard.

The father told the jury how difficult it was to go through the trial ‘after two years of being dragged through the mill.’ He apologised for crying, telling the jury: “I’ve been through so much.”

Jurors heard Jones, four years off his retirement, has served in the police for 26 years, including in the tactical weapons team.

He was awarded a long service and good conduct medal in 2012 and received a testimonial on vellum from the Royal Humane Society in 2009 after rescuing a suicidal man in heavy snow on the Malvern Hills.

Asked by his barrister, Sharon Bahia, Jones said he had no previous convictions, cautions or reprimands.

He said of his overdose: “I had had enough. I had totally had enough of everything. I was stuck in limbo doing a stressful job as a police officer.”

Jones said the overdose was “a selfish thing” to do but added: “At that time that’s what I thought was the way out.”

He described it as "the worst thing I have ever done" but said that he had felt "so trapped."

Jones said the woman who alleges he raped her had attacked him, grabbing hold of his hair and kneeing him in the face and hitting him with anything she could find.

He said the first he knew of the rape allegations was when he returned from annual leave in 2016.

He was told to see the chief inspector and was approached by two officers from professional standards.

Asked by his barrister if he raped his alleged victim over a period of three months he said: “Not at all.” Asked if he had ever forced himself on her he said: “Not at any point.”

He was asked if he had ever said he could do as he wanted to her and he replied: “Never ever.”

Jones further denied threatening the woman, telling her to ‘keep her mouth shut’ or his brother could make her ‘disappear.’

He told the jury: “She threatened she would ruin me. She would get me to lose my job. She wanted me with nothing.”

He denied he had a strong sex drive or got a ‘sexual kick’ out of naked photos of a female friend sent to his phone but the married officer acknowledged, under cross-examination by prosecutor Peter Arnold, that he had once had an affair.

Asked about a piercing to an intimate part of his body, he said: “You have women in their 60s who come in and have piercings. Does that make them sexual predators?”

He was asked if his piercing had anything to do with ‘a sexual urge or fantasy.’ Jones replied: “No, not at all. Not in my mind.”

He was accused of changing his account about where he was staying at the time of the alleged rapes and ‘lying.’ Jones said: “I’m not lying.”

Instead, he said he had ‘clarified’ aspects of his account given in previous interviews on the basis of more recent information.

He said: “No human being would be able to give any amount of detail about something 10 or 12 years prior.”

Jones was asked if ‘you forced yourself upon her.’

He replied: “No, that’s not the case.”

The trial continues.