Court /

Suspended police officer denies rape on second day of trial

13 October 2026 16:12

Content warning: This story contains details of sexual assault allegations. If you have been affected by this issue, help is available.

A POLICE officer accused of multiple sexual offences in Shetland has denied raping an underage girl and an adult woman.

Carmichael John Williamson, known as John, said at Edinburgh High Court today (Tuesday) that it was not true that he took part in sexual activity with the adult woman outside a community hall during a wedding celebration in 2022.

The court had heard evidence from the woman on Monday, who said she did not feel “truly in control of my actions” due to being intoxicated at the time.

Asked if there was any sexual contact between him and the female at the venue, Williamson replied: “None at all”.

He also denied that there was any further sexual contact with the woman later at a house or that he slapped her on the face.

Williamson, 32, of Burra, also denied that he had sex with a girl when she was aged 15 in 2014.

Instead he told the court that they had only had sex after she became 16.

He was asked if he had recorded the teenager while she was performing a sex act on him and he responded: “I have no recollection of ever recording any of our sexual encounters.”

Williamson was alleged to have made the recording on an occasion between April 2014 and October 2015 using a tablet computer, but told the court he did not have such a device at the time.

He told the court he has been a police constable for more than 10 years and was previously a special constable, but was currently suspended.

A woman had earlier told the court that she met him when she was 15 and he was 19, and they started having sex when she was 15.

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She told the court that on one occasion he carried out an “extremely painful” sex act on her without consent.

She said she was “crying and in a lot of pain.”

The woman, now aged 28, said Williamson had a tablet and used it to record her carrying out a sex act on him.

Williamson has denied a series of charges alleged to have been committed at locations in Shetland between 2014 and 2022.

The trial continues.

Copy by Dave Finlay of Edinburgh Courts Press Services

If you have been affected by crime, help is available. Whether you are victim, a witness, or the accused, you can find independent, impartial, and confidential support in Shetland.