The son of a former deputy chief commissioner for the police has gone on trial accused of sexually assaulting two female police officers and another woman.

Faisal Master is accused of sexually touching the police officers during two separate incidents at the Griffin Head filling station on Burnley Road in Huncoat where he was a manager.

Prosecutors say the 30-year-old also attempted to bribe the husband of one of the alleged victims and created a fake social media account to contact one of the women.

Mr Master denies three counts of sexual assault and two counts of perverting the course of justice at Preston Crown Court.

Richard Haworth, prosecuting, said the first alleged incident involving a police officer happened when she was called to investigate an alleged crime in 2013.

The jury was told that Mr Master’s father, who at the time was a deputy chief commissioner for the police, had been in the office but left before the alleged offence took place.

Mr Haworth said Mr Master started to ask the officer ‘uncomfortable’ questions as he was processing CCTV and began ‘chatting her up’ by saying that she had ‘nice breath’ and ‘nice eyes’.

The court was told that Mr Master, of Kirkland Close, Blackburn, then allegedly stroked her on the cheek and said she was ‘pretty’ and sexually assaulted her.

The jury heard that the officer later reported the incident to a senior officer and made a statement but that ‘matters were not proceeded with and were left in abeyance’.

Mr Haworth said on a separate occasion in 2014 another female officer was called to the filling station and that Mr Master ‘immediately made physical contact’ by touching her arm.

He also complimented her on her handwriting before his actions took on a ‘more bizarre quality’, the court was told.

Mr Master is alleged to have said she ‘looked fit’ and asked if she worked out and ‘could see her muscles and abs’.

He is also accused of telling her that he would massage her if he was her husband, complimenting her on her skin, leaving the officer feeling ‘intimidated and incredibly uncomfortable’.

The jury was told that when the officer told Mr Master to ‘keep his hands to himself’ he then ‘smirked’ before stroking her face.

When interviewed by police he denied any inappropriate or sexual behaviour, denied touching her and said there must have been ‘some complicity’ between the two officers, the court was told.

Mr Haworth told the jury that neither officer had ever met or worked with each other before and that the second officer didn’t know of the earlier complaint by the first officer.

The jury was told that in another alleged incident Mr Master hugged a woman before kissing her on the cheek and ‘squeezed’ one of her breasts.

When questioned by police he said he had done ‘nothing untoward’ and made no further comment to any questions. the court heard.

Proceeding

Preston Crown Court

Prosecutors claim Faisal Master tried to stop one of the police officers from attending court and attempted to bribe the husband of one of the alleged victims.

Richard Haworth, prosecuting, told the jury that Mr Master ‘attempted to avoid the consequences for what he knew he had done’.

The court was told that Mr Master attended the home of one of the alleged victims and was challenged by her husband.

Mr Haworth said the defendant then allegedly started to apologise and asked if there was ‘anything he could do to make it go away’.

The jury was told that Mr Master is accused of offering to pay the man and telling him that it was a ‘mistake that got out of hand’.

The prosecutor said Mr Master is also accused of setting up a fake social media account and messaging the police officer involved in the second alleged incident to drop the charges.

The jury was told that the officer received a message on social media.

In the message the person states that Mr Master had lost weight, his mother was ‘hugely affected due to stress and worry’ and that they had spent £12,000 on legal fees, it was claimed.

The message also stated that Mr Master has now been ‘fully rectified’ and that new measures have been taken in his workplace to ensure that no man can be alone with a woman and that CCTV cameras had been installed, the jury heard.

The hearing was told the message said: “You can agree these are drastic changes and he has definitely learned a huge amount through all this.

"It’s affected his last two and a half years of his and his full extended family’s life.

"Please taking all of this into consideration, can I ask you to find mercy in your kind heart for his family as they carry this burdensome weight on their shoulders for a very long time and it’s surely taken its toll on them.

“All of these things have been a massive wake up call for him and it has impacted his whole family.”

Mr Haworth said the officer was ‘shocked’ to receive the message and immediately reported it to police.

The jury was told that when police seized and examined Mr Master’s phone they found in the search history that searches had been made for the two police officers and that a new social media profile had been created.

Mr Haworth said that on the day of Mr Master’s arranged police interview the website history on the phone had been cleared and the profile had been deleted.

Mr Master denies two charges of perverting the course of justice.

The trial continues