A Gwent Police officer pretended to be a gas engineer and quizzed a woman about her sex life after interviewing her the year before, a court heard.

Luke Silver, 33, told her he worked for housing provider Pobl and wanted to do a safety check.

His defence said he visited the woman’s home in a “half blues” police uniform after a shift.

Mr Silver, from Pembroke, denies four allegations of corrupt or improper exercise of police powers and privileges by a constable, and three of unauthorised access to computer data.

Cardiff Crown Court was told the woman, from Cwmbran, in Torfaen, said she recognised Mr Silver as the officer who dealt with her in July 2021.

She had been arrested on suspicion of common assault and he drove her home after she was freed from custody without charge.

The woman said she was a domestic violence victim, with PTSD and autism.

She claimed he asked about her sex life during the car journey and gave her his phone number.

During the trip he started talking about sex.

The woman said: “He asked me what sexual positions I enjoyed. He told me what positions he enjoyed.”

On arriving at her house posing as a gas engineer a year later, the court was told, he went inside to carry out a safety check.

Later she texted the number he gave her, the court heard, but received no reply.

She did not formally report the police car conversation she said, adding: “I didn’t think I would hear from him again, I brushed it off.”

The court heard she remembered him when he knocked on her door in July 2022 claiming to be from Pobl and felt scared.

“He was there in a completely different uniform,” she said.

Mr Silver, the court heard, asked to use the toilet before returning to the lounge.

The woman said: “He asked if I missed having sex. He said, he missed having sex for three years. I said I was pretty happy being on my own.”

The woman told the court Mr Silver “brushed” her leg with his hand.

“I had shivers down my spine,” she said.

She said she remembered thinking Mr Silver was a police officer and that he was being “inappropriate”.

On leaving, she said he asked to give her a hug.

“I’m not a huggy person,” she told the court she replied.

Between March and May 2022, the jury heard, the woman said Mr Silver came to her house with a police colleague conducting door-to-door inquiries.

She said she believed he was trying to find out about her life and children.

After the third encounter in July 2022 she contacted police.

A second woman was so unnerved by Mr Silver she dropped charges against her abusive former partner, the court heard, so the officer had no reason to visit.

She said she met him in February 2022 after reporting her cocaine addict ex-partner.

He had locked her in her home and stolen her car, the court heard.

Mr Silver called himself, she said, her domestic violence officer, asked whether she and her former partner were sexually active and if he was “any good.”

The woman claimed Mr Silver asked if she was “dominant in the bedroom.”

The jury was told he called her “stunning” and disclosed he had not had sex for a long time.

The jury were played a video where she told detectives Mr Silver visited her home several times.

During one interview she said he asked her about her breast size.

She said: “It was just horrible. I didn’t like it, my children were there. I thought, he’s coming on to me.”

When Mr Silver arranged to take a statement, the court heard, she asked a friend to be with her, writing a message saying: “The creepy police officer wants to come down again.”

The court heard she let him make repeated visits because, “I needed to keep him on side to help me.”

The case continues.