AN ALLEGED sex crime victim told a court today (Tuesday) that a police officer accused of rape and assault told her that no one would listen to her "because he was a policeman".

The woman said that she was subjected to abuse by Martyn Coulter and saw him throw a young child across a room who struck a radiator.

Advocate depute Kath Harper asked her if she had ever thought about going to the authorities and she said: "Not at that point."

The prosecutor asked why not and she replied: "Because I didn't think anyone would listen to me. He had said nobody would listen to me anyway, because he was a policeman."

The 36-year-old woman said that Coulter would lash out when he was angry and on one occasion he slammed her head into a kitchen cabinet.

She was asked what force was used and said: "Hard enough that my head hit it and came back."

'Tossed her across the room'

She said that after the incident she did not challenge him because she was scared.

She told the court that on another occasion she had said: "Why don't you just punch me in the face."

She added: "He said he wouldn't do that because that would leave a mark.

"He would slap me a couple of times on the face, but with an open hand."

The woman, a teacher, said that Coulter got really cross with a girl and picked her up and threw across a room.

She said: "He tossed her across the room, which is quite a long way, and she hit the radiator."

The woman said that she was interviewed in 2020 by police after a child had made disclosures.

Rape charges

Coulter, 36, is standing trial at the High Court in Edinburgh having denied eight charges.

It is alleged that on an occasion between June 1 and July 31, 2013, he pushed the woman onto a bed at a house in Dunbar and raped her.

He is also accused of raping the woman between September 1 and 30, 2013, at his flat at Ashwood Gait, Edinburgh.

Coulter is alleged to have assaulted the woman between June 1, 2013, and November 30, 2014, in Dunbar by pushing her and causing her to fall down stairs, striking her on the head and body, kicking her on the body, pushing her on the body and causing her to fall on the floor, and striking her head against a kitchen cabinet.

He is also accused of assaulting a girl on various occasions between September 1, 2013, and November 30, 2014, at an address in Dunbar by striking her on the head and body, punching her on the body, and seizing her and throwing her against a radiator.

Coulter is also alleged to have sexually assaulted the girl during the same timespan. She was aged five at the beginning of the period. He is also accused of raping her on an occasion during this time.

He is also accused of assaulting a second girl on various occasions between September 1, 2013, and November 30, 2014, in Dunbar by striking her on the head. She was aged three at the beginning of the period set out in the charge.

He faces a further charge of allegedly behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.

The trial, before judge Lady Drummond, continues.