Police officer made women ‘feel sorry for him’ so they loaned him money – court

A Metropolitan Police officer accused of abusing and lying to multiple women made them “feel so sorry for him” that they loaned him money, a court heard.

Lewis Rollins, 28, is alleged to have used his “vile rage” and threats of suicide to take money from several partners to feed his gambling addiction.

Rollins, who was a Police Constable in the Met’s central west command unit, is now on trial accused of coercive or controlling behaviour, fraud and damaging property.

At Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, trainee solicitor Emily Busby told jurors she met Rollins on a dating app in April 2023, and agreed to help him as he set up a football team to raise awareness of gambling problems.

“He called it a gambling addiction, the prosecution says it’s a habit,” said Ms Rekha Kodikara, prosecuting.

Ms Busby bought three pairs of football boots for Rollins, let him use her car, and helped him design logos for a charity football match because she “felt sorry for him”, the court heard.

She said: “It’s just part of his character to make people feel bad for him, but we did get on and I did like him so I wanted to help him,

“But I was also scared that if I did stop speaking to him I would never get the money back which he owed me which was piling up.”

Jurors heard Ms Busby gave Rollins £800 to pay the deposit on his accommodation after he “gambled away” money he had been given by his parents.

Ms Busby said: “I think I could sense his urgency and I was hesitant to give it to him as you can see because it was a large amount of money but he kept pushing and pushing,

“I think the way he was messaging was in a way to make me feel bad for him, like I was the only one who could help him and there was no one else.”

She added that Rollins threatened to take his own life “a lot” which was “one of the reasons” she was so worried about him.

In December 2023, she took out a £4,000 loan for Rollins, giving £2,500 of the money to the constable while using the rest to pay off her own debts.

“(He) thought he was entitled to the loan she took out – he saw it as his money,” said Ms Kodikara.

The court heard on Monday that Ms Busby believed the pair were best friends and had been intimate, but she reported him to police after he started dating another woman, tried to cut off contact with her and then pushed her over when she confronted him.

Dr Georgia Miller, who was in a relationship with Rollins in 2022, told jurors, “I don’t think I came out of it that badly” after recalling stories of physical abuse, name calling, and controlling jealousy from their relationship.

In one instance in a Birmingham hotel room in 2022, Dr Miller described being “shoved” into a wall and “grabbed by the throat” after Rollins saw a text on her phone from an ex-partner.

“He had me by the throat, but like with one hand so I could still breathe. I don’t think he was trying to kill me, he was just trying to scare me,” she said.

Dr Miller told the court that she “was approached by one of the other victims and by the police” and was not planning to report Rollins.

She explained that she feared Rollins would “lose his job” in the police, after being asked why she did not report the alleged physical assaults.

“One thing I said I would never do was report him to the police, I just thought, delusionally, that we would sort it out, that we would find a way,” she said.

Rollins also borrowed “a lot” of money from Dr Miller during their relationship and she tried to help him deal with his debts, but she confirmed to the court that he did pay her back.

He maintains that any instances of violence in their relationship were initiated by Dr Miller which she rejects, the court heard.

“Ultimately he was aggressive and he was violent, he shouted at me all the time,” she said.

The trial will continue on Thursday morning.