ALLEGED victims of a police inspector accused of abusing his rank and status for sexual gratification described "feeling dirty and sick" after their encounters with them.

Former Detective Inspector Simon Hurwood, who resigned from Cleveland Police last month, is said to have coerced mainly young and subordinate female colleagues into performing sex acts on him and bombarded them with Whatsapp messages pressurising them to send him sexually explicit photos of themselves. He was "obsessed" with the colour of women’s underwear, a disciplinary hearing was told.

The 53-year-old officer, who once worked in the force’s professional standards department, could be barred from serving in any police force again after 21 women complained about sexual misconduct over a period of 14 years.

All the alleged victims are or were serving police officers, staff or in associated companies.

The married former officer has declined to attend the hearing and is not represented but denies any coercion or sexual activity at work.

If found guilty of gross misconduct he will be barred from working in any police capacity again.

Mr Hurwood is said to have plagued one woman with questions like: “When are you going to let me f*** you?” Later, when she is said to have told him she was pregnant, he allegedly said: “Now when you let me f*** you, you won’t fall pregnant.”

One of his "obsessions" was to find out what colour underwear his victims liked to wear, John Beggs QC, representing Cleveland Police, told the hearing at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough.

Mr Beggs added that Mr Hurwood often preyed on, and "groomed" women who were going through difficult times in their lives, as well as them always being subordinate in rank to him and many who were particularly young. One person, known only as witness A, was new to the force when she was allegedly preyed upon by Mr Hurwood, who allegedly said to her: “When we do have sex it is as if I was going to rape you, because that is what girls like.”

The witness told the court Mr Hurwood carried on to coerce her to perform sex acts on him on "numerous occasions" including in police vehicles and in an inspector’s office. She added that she was afraid no one would believe her word over Mr Hurwood’s if she spoke up.

Mr Beggs said: “There are distressing accounts from this complainant saying ‘he used to make me feel sick, physically, all the time. I used to go home and put my fingers down my throat’.”

Mr Hurwood’s alleged "predatory and manipulative" behaviour escalated when he worked in the professional standards department.

Mr Beggs added that Mr Hurwood’s behaviour included coercing women into performing sex acts, touching them in intimate areas and also having sexual intercourse in his office.

The hearing was told Mr Hurwood plagued his alleged victims with sexually explicit text messages and pestered them to send him explicit pictures. At least two of his alleged victims are said to have felt so much pressure from him they ended up sending him images of them performing sex acts on themselves, something which left them feeling "sickened".

One witness who sent Mr Hurwood an explicit video said: “I felt so disgusted but again I just sent it because I felt like I had a duty to make him happy and give him what he wanted.”

When she was later allegedly coerced by him into having intercourse in his office she said: “I got back up feeling disgusted and guilty. He just zipped himself back up and walked back round to his desk and sat down looking all pleased with himself.”

Another woman, Witness I, said he groped her in the office, rubbed himself against her and shared a sexual headmaster-schoolgirl fantasy. And Witness J said he had groped her up her dress. She said: “I did say, like, 'no we can’t', but I didn’t feel strong enough to pull away.”

He later coerced her into having sex at work, the hearing was told.

Mr Hurwood would quickly get hold of his alleged victims’ personal mobile phone numbers, target women with issues in their private life and offload his own troubles to gain sympathy, Mr Beggs said.

Investigations began when an anonymous email making allegations about his conduct towards women was sent to the force’s Counter Corruption Unit in January. He was arrested in March, as reported by The Northern Echo, and interviewed about alleged misconduct in June. He will not face criminal charges due to a lack of evidence. A ruling from the panel is expected on Tuesday.