A POLICE officer has been given a written warning over the way she dealt with a vulnerable woman's rape allegations.

The woman reported the assault at Colchester police station in May 2013, where she had been questioned after an accusation by her alleged attacker.

She later made an official complaint about the way officers dealt with the allegations.

The woman, who can not be named as she is the victim of an alleged sexual assault, said: “It was a serious crime and they failed to listen.”

She told a police officer she had been raped twice after a night out on New Year's Eve three years ago.

The woman also said she had been raped by the same man two or three months earlier.

She claimed the allegations were not handled properly when she reported them.

Avictim statement taken by police said she had consented to having sex with the man, who was her partner at the time. However, the alleged victim’s son, who was present during part of the police interview, said his mother repeatedly told the officer she had been raped.

The woman also said she had later made a tape recording of her alleged attacker apologising to her, but the officer who interviewed her was “not interested”.

The officer told the investigation there had been no mention of the recording.

Police did not examine the tape until more than a year after the original allegations were made.

The investigation found the officer probably was told about the tape recording, but made no effort to collect it or pass the information on to other officers.

The force upheld the complaint and said the officer had breached its standards of professional behaviour and should face a misconduct meeting with her seniors.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “The complaint was subject to a full investigation, which resulted in an officer’s attendance at a misconduct meeting. The officer received a written warning.”