The Times - UK (2022-06-11)

24 Saturday June 11 2022 | the times

News

A long-serving police officer allegedly

raped a businesswoman a day after

meeting her on an online dating app

and telling her: “I’ll protect you.”

Winchester crown court was told

yesterday that the woman repeatedly

told PC David Longden-Thurgood she

did not want to have sex but he “would

not take no for an answer”.

Longden-Thurgood, 48, of Hamp-

shire Constabulary, denies one charge

of rape. He met his alleged victim on

the Bumble app and she felt a “degree of

trust because he was a police officer”.

The father of three from from Water-

looville, Hampshire, who has been a

police officer for 19 years, chatted about

having sex in his uniform and told her

“I’m a bit of a rebel off duty”.

In messages to the woman, a mother

in her thirties, he bragged about his

physique and told her: “I’ll protect you

for life, you will be my baby girl.”

Rebecca Fairbairn, for the prosecu-

tion, said Longden-Thurgood commit-

ted rape the day after the pair ex-

changed sexualised messages and sent

naked selfies. He had been invited to his

alleged victim’s home.

Fairbairn said the woman wanted to

chat to get to know him and consented

to kissing and some sexual activity, but

did not consent to full intercourse and

had repeatedly told him: “I don’t want

sex.” The day after the alleged attack,

the woman messaged him: “I just kept

saying, ‘No we are not having sex.’ I

didn’t mind a spoon and a bit of play but

I think you intended on coming here

and having sex, it got to the point where

I may as well stop saying no.”

Longden-Thurgood replied: “Sorry

babe, I thought with all the sex talk that

was both what we wanted. It’s very diffi-

cult to accept the invite into your house

to spoon after all that talk and not have

sex.”

Fairbairn said: “You must not think

that because she consented to some

sexual activity that she agreed to full

intercourse with him.

“The defendant didn’t think she had

the right to consent to some but not all.

The messages, he thought, entitled him

to have what we wanted.”

The alleged victim became uncom-

fortable when Longden-Thurgood

took his boxers off. When again she said

she didn’t want sex, he told her: “Well it

feels too good, I can’t stop now.”

The following day, in messages

between the pair, Longden-Thurgood

said the woman seemed “miserable”

and was “blowing it out of proportion”.

The trial continues.

David Longden-

Thurgood denies a

charge of rape

Policeman ‘raped woman

he met on dating app’

Fiona Hamilton Crime Editor

anything small

enough to fall

through the holes

but, like any

other designer

arm candy, the

tote comes

with its own

dust bag for

storage.

British

Vogue has

called the

style “the

cult Insta

accessory to

be seen with”.

There are almost

50,000 posts on the

platform under the

hashtag #pradatote.

Tote bags — or

“second bags”, as

fashion editors call

them — have

become big business

as traditional

handbags have

shrunk. What used

to be an after-

thought for

commuters’ trainers,

laptops and packed

lunches is now a

luxury category of

its own. Dior’s

largest canvas Book

Tote costs £2,450.

Marc Jacobs’s

version is £255 and

Isabel Marant

charges £120.

Prada’s string

tote is better suited

to holidays than the

office, and is designed

to be seen on phone

screens. Even beach

bags must now pass

the selfie test, and

raffia styles and

baskets have become a

summer money-

spinner. Loewe’s

basket, with its

recognisable leather

logo patch, costs £395.

The front row’s

favourite Ghanaian

brand, Muun, charges

£140 for its elephant

grass bags, which

take local craftspeople

up to three days to

weave.

There are cheaper

options. Zara has just

launched a similar

raffia tote to Prada’s

for £22.99. John

Lewis’s organic cotton

vegetable bag is £6.

Or you could just

wait to see if there’s

one hanging around in

the kitchen of your

Airbnb and use that.

influencers Pernille

Teisbaek (1.4 million

Instagram followers),

Gitta Banko

(661,000) and

Caroline Daur

(3.7 million). The bag

sold out last month

after they and many

more posted selfies

with theirs on the

beach and beside

infinity pools.

Demand is such that

several luxury

retailers have already

restocked.

The Prada string bag

is made of open-weave

raffia. You’ll need

somewhere else to put

your spare change or

Y

ou may

recognise the

fashion set’s

latest must-

have as the

sort of string bag in

which you carry fruit

home from the market

on holiday (Harriet

Walker writes).

They’re more hole

than fabric and usually

cost about €2.

Yet the string bag all

over Instagram right

now is no cheap

market-stall find. This

version is stocked in

designer boutiques,

costs £1,400 and comes

with a giant Prada logo

stamped on the side.

The supermodel

Rosie Huntington-

Whiteley has one, as

do the front row

It’s the holey grail

of bags — a £1,400

Prada string tote

Clockwise from

left, the social

media influencers

Caroline Daur,

Sonia Lyson and

Gitta Banko

show off their

£1,400 Prada

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