POLICE OFFICER ADAM GRICE ROBERTS SENTENCED IN PRESTON FOR SEXUAL ACTIVITY WITH 15-YEAR-OLD IN POLICE CAR

Update: PC Adam Grice Roberts, aged 32, was sentenced to 12 months in prison at Preston Crown Court after admitting to having sex with a 15-year-old girl while she was under the influence of gas.

In a court hearing, it was revealed that Constable Adam Grice-Roberts had been instructed to escort the girl to hospital but instead engaged in sexual activity with her inside his police car, parked in the police station garage at Blackpool, Lancashire.

The court was told that Grice-Roberts admits to having had sex with the girl but claims she persuaded him to do so. He pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse but denied the charge of rape.

Prosecutor Guy Gozem explained that the girl was 'insensible' due to inhaling gas, which she was addicted to, and that she was 'in no condition to decide whether to consent or not.' He emphasized, 'The prosecution say this fact was obvious.'

The incident allegedly occurred on April 18 when someone found the girl—described as 'apparently in another world'—and called the police. Gozem stated, 'There was no dispute that Grice-Roberts put her in his car where she continued inhaling gas, and then took her to Blackpool police station, where a sergeant advised him to get her to hospital.'

According to the prosecutor, 'He walked her back to his car in the police station garage, and in the back of the car, he engaged in sexual intercourse with her there and then. He then drove her to the hospital.'

The girl, whose name cannot be disclosed, had been visiting her parents in Blackpool for the Easter weekend and was supposed to return to a children’s home in North Wales where she lived. After being dropped off at the hospital, she caught a train out of the resort but was stopped at Preston station after police noticed her inhaling gas. She ran away from an officer and later contacted ChildLine twice.

In police interviews conducted via video, the girl described how Grice-Roberts had touched her indecently in an alley, putting his hand down her pants and asking if it felt good; she said she told him 'no.' She also recounted that he allowed her to continue sniffing in the car, where he touched her again.

After arriving at the police station, the girl said they were dismissed quickly by a sergeant. Grice-Roberts admitted that he engaged in sexual intercourse with her 'almost immediately' after they arrived, while she was lying across the back seat of his car.

She stated that at the time, she was inhaling from a can while the officer had sex with her. Three empty cans were discovered in the underground garage. She described her condition: 'I was really out of it.' When asked if she had told Grice-Roberts not to do it, she replied, 'No, at the time I didn't even know what was going on. I was high. I knew he was having sex, but I was high.'

Gozem highlighted that Grice-Roberts's account claimed the girl had consented and persuaded him, asserting she had discussed it, wanted it, and had touched him on the way back to the car 'to leave no doubt she wanted sex.' From witness descriptions, it was 'perfectly apparent this girl was in no position to consent to sex.'

Two video-recorded interviews with the girl form the primary evidence, and she was to be cross-examined via videolink. The court viewed the girl describing what she remembered from her perspective, stating, 'I can't remember much. I was face down. I got up and carried on sniffing. He kept asking me why I did it.' She recounted that in uniform, Grice-Roberts had put his hand down her pants and asked if it made her feel good; she said 'no,' and he told her to 'carry on finishing your can.' She claimed he then had intercourse with her in the dimly lit underground parking lot of the police station.

Afterward, she was dropped off at Victoria Hospital but left without treatment after requesting to use the toilet. She returned home, packed a bag to go back to her children's home, and took a train to Preston but ran away upon seeing a policeman at the station. She later contacted ChildLine to report what had happened.

The girl also disclosed that she had purchased six cans of butane gas that day and had already sniffed three, emphasizing, 'I was high. I knew I was having sex but I was high. I am not lying.'

The trial is ongoing.