A Met Police officer asked a 15-year-old girl if she had a boyfriend after getting her to meet him in a park when she finished school, a court has heard.

Pc Adnan Arib, 45, is also accused of telling a second girl, 16, she was “very pretty” and inviting her out while in Bethnal Green police station, east London, where he was based.

Arib is standing trial at Southwark Crown Court, where he denies two charges of misconduct in a public office over his alleged behaviour towards the two teenagers he met while on duty.

Prosecutor Jacqueline Carey told a jury on Thursday: “His interactions with them, his conduct towards these two young women was wholly inappropriate and the prosecution say amounts to police misconduct.”

She said the uniformed officer was called to a 15-year-old girl’s flat by her mother, who had accused her daughter of stealing £10 from her, at around 7.30am on July 4 2019.

Arib asked to speak to the youngster in her bedroom, mouthing to her to “say no” when he asked her about the suspected theft, said Ms Carey.

He then asked her to write her name, phone number and email address on a piece of paper, the girl said in a filmed police interview played in court.

“He asked me to meet after school,” she said.

“He asked if I wanted to meet in the park and I said, ‘Yeah’.

“He said to not tell anyone, not tell my mum he’s going to meet me.”

The court heard Arib accessed information about the girl on the police computer before sending her a text message which read: “It was nice to meet you this morning. Are we still meeting this afternoon?”

“I thought it was dodgy the way he was texting me,” she said.

Arib had changed out of his police uniform into jeans and a pink top when she arrived at the park wearing her school uniform, the jury heard.

“I think he put his arm around me,” she said.

“He started asking me if I had a boyfriend and if he makes me happy.”

Arib allegedly said he wanted to be friends because “there was stuff he wanted to show me”, the teenager said, adding: “I’m pretty sure he mentioned drinks as well.”

Ms Carey described the alleged conversation as “totally and utterly inappropriate”.

“The prosecution say this officer was tasked to investigate the suspected theft of a small amount of money,” she said.

“Not only did he fail to investigate it but he used it to engineer a meeting with a 15-year-old girl.

“His conduct does betray the public trust and there can be no reasonable excuse or justification for that behaviour.”

The second complainant was picked up by police after she was reported missing on April 1 2019, the court heard.

Ms Carey said she “began to feel uncomfortable and a bit weird” when Arib started asking her about her personal life in the station at around 5am.

He allegedly asked for her phone number and if she was in a relationship, told her he wanted to take her out and when she asked why, he said because she was “very pretty”, the court heard.

Arib allegedly accessed a police report about her and officers later found 47 text messages had been sent between them on a phone he had initially tried to deny was his, the court heard.

He said in a prepared statement he “may have been naive but was only trying to help”, the court heard.

The jury was told Arib, of Barking, east London, accepts meeting the girls but denies he was trying to form an inappropriate relationship with them and claims he wanted to help and provide them with advice, which he thought was part of his policing role.

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