Mum claims police ‘playing with and laughing’ at her sex toys broke her marriage

Nichola Corr, 51, says officers were like ‘children in a playground’ laughing at her toys during the raid, which was part of a drugs investigation allegedly involving a family member

A mother has secured a £3,500 settlement after body-worn cameras captured “disgusting” police officers mocking her underwear and ridiculing her intimate items during a house search.

Nichola Corr, 51, from north Essex, claims Suffolk Police raided her property as part of a drugs probe allegedly linked to a relative. Throughout the operation, Nichola claims the officers behaved like “children in a playground”, tossing a G-string between themselves and examining her £1,000 collection of adult products whilst joking they were “sticky”.

Following her complaint, Suffolk Police handed Nichola £3,500 in damages after their professional standards unit concluded the officers’ conduct was “unacceptable and unprofessional”. The unit’s probe also determined that official disciplinary measures weren’t necessary.

Nichola says that her marriage has crumbled in the aftermath and that she and her spouse are now pursuing divorce proceedings. She attributes the relationship breakdown to trauma from the episode, claiming it “diminished” their intimate relationship, with both partners no longer being as “adventurous as they used to be”.

The search, which took place in October 2023, was executed on suspicion that a family member was purportedly involved in drug trafficking. Nicola faced no arrest and the police inquiry resulted in no charges or prosecutions.

Nichola, who viewed the bodycam footage after lodging a complaint, revealed: “One of the male officers was at the bottom of the bed. He picked up a pair of knickers and he threw them to the other male officer, and he looked down and said: ‘Did you just throw them at me?'”.

“After they threw the underwear, they found the box of toys. A young female officer got it down, put it on the bed, started pulling all the things out, saying: ‘Oh, this is sticky! Oh, this is sticky!'”.

“There was a cock ring in the drawer. They made a point of going: ‘Oh, look, there’s a cock ring!'”.

“The male officer that threw the underwear was looking through my whole toy box, laughing, joking, going: ‘Oh, look at this. Jesus Christ, look at this!'”.

“They were taking the absolute piss! It was like they were children in a playground the way they were acting. It was disgusting.

“I have a psychologist and she said that I needed counselling because I’ve never used my toy box since.”

Suffolk Police rejected claims that officers handled the intimate items, with a spokesman stating: “A box containing sex toys was found, which was subject to comment and laughter from the officers, but at no point do they touch or play with the items.

“The underwear appeared to be moved in jest, without any thought given for the upset this could cause to the owner.”

Ms Corr explained that while she wasn’t present during the search, she discovered the full scope of the officers’ behaviour only after requesting the bodycam recordings. “During the raid, we could hear laughing and joking upstairs,” she recalled, indicating that something was amiss.

“I took it that they had found the box of sex toys. When I went up to check the house after they had left, there was a pair of my underwear from a sexy set – just a G string – laid out on my pillow.

“I know there’s no way if you throw a G-string, it’s going to land perfectly on a pillow.

“It’s like a sick person robbing you and giving a mark to say they were there. So I made a complaint.”

Nichola claims the footage also reveals an older officer instructing their colleagues to switch off the bodycam recording.

“I just think the police are horrendous”, she expressed, adding: “No one’s ever apologised to me for what they’ve done.

“I mean, they think a couple of thousand pounds and that’s it – the police can do what they want.

“I don’t trust the police anymore. I always used to say if you ever need the police, they’ll be there for you. But no, not in this day and age. They’re using their power over people.”

Suffolk Police confirmed that the allegations were probed by the joint Norfolk & Suffolk Professional Standards Department.

A spokesperson for the force stated: “They determined the officers’ behaviour was deemed to be unacceptable and unprofessional, but was considered to be more due to immaturity than spite.

“It was noted that all the officers involved were very young in terms of service and still undergoing training. One of the officers left the organisation prior to the complaint being received.

“The two officers who remained in service were required to undertake ‘Reflective Practice’.

“This involves officers having a professional discussion with their manager, viewing the video footage and being asked to comment on how they perceive it.

“They are encouraged to confront what they did and think about the impact of their behaviour on the complainant and on the public perception of the police service.

“As a part of this process the two officers that remain in service offered an apology to the complainant and the Detective Inspector who investigated the allegations also offered an apology for their behaviour, both verbally and in writing.

“This was acknowledged by the complainant in an email.”

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