A police officer and former Mr Gay UK fought back tears as he described the “devastating” impact on his life of allegations of rape and sexual assault.

PC Mark Carter, 28, from Station Lane, Birkenshaw, Bradford, is alleged to have sexually assaulted three men and raped a fourth while on a Christmas night out with colleagues.

He admitted he had “stupidly” drunk too much on the night out but denied carrying out the assaults.

Describing the effect the allegations had on his life, he told the jury: “It had a devastating effect on me.

“It turned my whole life upside down. I embarked on an absolute living nightmare.”

The officer is alleged to have dragged one of his victims by the hair and raped him in a hotel room.

Carter denied being violent, telling Leeds Crown Court: “I’m not a violent person.

“We had gone back for mutual pleasure, a sexual encounter. I didn’t take him back to beat him up.”

The court was told Carter met the man in Loft Bar in Queens Court, Leeds, and they ended up walking back to the Etap hotel in the city centre in December 2009.

“We didn’t go back for a cup of coffee. We went back for sex,” he told the jury.

The court was told the alleged rape victim fled the hotel by a fire escape and alerted a passer-by. The jury was told the man had left when Carter got out of the shower.

Carter said: “I first thought ‘charming’.

“We had this sexual encounter and I was under the impression we would spend the day together or give him a lift home or get lunch.

“I expected him to be there when I got out of the shower and he had gone.”

He said he was surprised when he heard a knock on the door and opened it to find police officers outside his hotel room.

“I thought they had got the wrong room,” he told the court.

The court was told Carter is a gay officer with West Yorkshire Police and a former holder of the Mr Gay UK title.

He said his colleagues were aware of his sexuality and supportive, although he said he did come across “individuals with bigoted views”.

“Everybody knows basically that I’m gay,” he told the court.

Carter denied carrying out a number of sexual assaults prior to going to the hotel room.

He told the court the gay scene could be “bitchy” with “drama queens who make things up”.

He denies three counts of sexual assault and two rapes.

The trial continues.

  • Read the full story Tuesday’s T&A