Ex-PCSO cleared of sex assaults on colleagues

A former police community support officer has been cleared of sexual assault – and says she now wants to get back to an ordinary life.

Sylvia Cooper was accused of inappropriately touching colleagues while on duty. The 45-year-old, of Stourbridge, sobbed with relief in the dock at Warwick Crown Court after being cleared of all eight charges of sexual assault.

She had told the jury she had been "shocked and horrified" when in December 2010 she learned of the allegations made against her by five colleague – two female PCSOs, two police constables and a male PCSO.

On the second day of her trial last week, Cooper was cleared of one charge alleging she touched a female colleague in an inappropriate manner, after the woman said she could not remember if contact was made.

And, after deliberating for a total of seven hours and 41 minutes over two days, the jury found her not guilty of the remaining eight counts.

Cooper, of Sherbourne Road, put her hands together as she mouthed "thank you" to the jury through the glass screen of the dock, then slumped with her head in her hands and began sobbing with relief as Judge Michael Cullum said her defence costs should all be paid from central funds.

In a statement after the trial, Cooper said: "The last two years have been a nightmare. I hope I may now be allowed to continue my life in the ordinary way."

Cooper had worked in the prison service for more than 10 years and then for a security firm until joining the police as a PCSO in the Black Country in 2005.

But she told the court she had resigned as a result of the allegations – and later lost a job with Age Concern because of publicity over the case. She was described in glowing terms as a PCSO during the trial.