A POLICEMAN accused of terrifying a WPC while having a relationship with her has denied conducting a campaign of harassment against her. Jeckyll-and-Hyde character PC James Curtis is alleged to have terrorised Donna Brand with his controlling behavio

A POLICEMAN accused of "terrifying" a WPC while having a relationship with her has denied conducting a campaign of harassment against her.

"Jeckyll-and-Hyde character" PC James Curtis is alleged to have terrorised Donna Brand with his "controlling behaviour" during their time together.

The 37-year-old is said to have attacked her, threatened to kill himself and boasted that he and his former wife had been secretly enjoying sex acts.

But Curtis, giving evidence at his trial at Lincoln Crown Court, denied he tried to "control" WPC Brand during their 18-month-long relationship.

He insisted: "I wasn't trying to put her in fear that violence would be used against her. I didn't kick or punch her. I wasn't carrying out a campaign."

Curtis admitted he once pulled on the handbrake while WPC Brand was driving him home from a pub along the A17 in the early hours of the morning.

WPC Brand claims she was travelling at 60mph at the time and Curtis caused the car to spin around in the road, leaving it facing the wrong way.

But Curtis said she exaggerated the incident, which he said happened after she repeatedly accused him of sending texts to other women.

He told a jury: "I had had a good night - I was happy. But after I had been in the car for five or 10 minutes with her my night was ruined.

"I asked her to stop the car, but she continued with the allegations. I must have asked her 15 to 20 times to stop, but it was to no avail.

"At that point I applied the handbrake. The car would have been going at 35 to 40mph. We had just entered the dual-carriageway at Gedney.

"The car began to slow down. It just stalled and came to a stop. She didn't lose control. The car didn't depart from a straight line. There was no spin.

"When the car stopped I opened the door and got out. She drove off. I walked home. I don't think there was anything dangerous at all in what I did."

Asked about an incident in which he turned on a petrol motor in the couple's utility room, filling their house with fumes, Curtis said it was a suicide bid.

He added that he was "devastated" after WPC Brand told them their relationship was over but then changed his mind and turned off the machine.

Curtis and WPC Brand lived together in Holbeach after meeting four years aho when both worked at the Terrington Beat Base, Terrington St John.

Curtis, now of Marsh Road, Terrington St Clement, denies causing harassment to his fellow officer between November 2005 and August 2006.

He also denies causing a danger to road users as a result of the handbrake incident. He has been cleared of three other charges on the judge's direction.

The trial continues.