A POLICE officer was recorded as he allegedly raped a woman thanks to an app on her phone, a court heard.

PC Mike Graham, 47, is accused of tying up and raping his victim on multiple occasions over a nine month period between December 2013 and September the following year.

Prosecutor Eloise Marshall told a jury on the first day of the trial at the Old Bailey that Poole resident Graham, who works for the Metropolitan Police, was recorded on a sleep-monitoring app which the alleged victim had installed on her smart phone.

Ms Marshall said the defendant, of Croft Road, had attacked the woman on a weekly basis, strangling and striking her while they were having sex and forcing her to take part in acts against her will.

She said the complainant’s phone had been placed on the bedside table and had recorded much of the activity.

The sleep app - designed to monitor the user’s sleep patterns including snoring and sleep-talking - was automatically triggered to begin recording when it detected sound in the room.

“It’s plain from the recordings that at the time the sexual assaults are taking place he’s hurting her, she doesn’t want him to carry out those acts,” she said.

“She clearly tells him she doesn’t want him to do those acts.

“We say he knew she wasn’t consenting, he knew she didn’t want him to do those things but he carried on regardless - using her fear and her submission for his own ends.”

Ms Marshall said the recording would be played to the jury during the trial and would prove the prosecution’s case.

It was alleged that Graham had become increasingly aggressive after giving up smoking while taking the drug Champix, leading to the violent behaviour contained in the charges.

The alleged victim went to police in September 2014 after Graham allegedly threatened to kill her, the court heard.

Graham, a serving officer based in Hounslow, denies seven counts of rape and one charge of sexual assault.

At interview following his arrest he told detectives he had never attacked the woman and all the instances of sex were consensual.

He said he was suffering memory lapses and erectile dysfunction due to his insomnia medication.

The trial continues.