A FORMER Blackburn police inspector has gone on trial charged with raping two women.

Mustaq Patala, 37, is accused of attacking one of the alleged victims in his car and in a hotel room in 1998 and 1999.

A jury was told that he then treated another woman 'as his slave', forcing her to have sex with him.

Preston Crown Court heard how the defendant, had been a serving Lancashire Police officer and had risen through the ranks before the accusations were made.

Prosecuting, Stuart Denny said: "He has now found himself facing criminal allegations."

Patala faces 14 counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and another of perverting the course of justice.

He denies all of the allegations.

Summarising the case to the jury, Mr Denny said: "The defendant behaved in a controlling, violent, demanding and bullying way towards the second complainant.

"Effectively he regarded her as his slave.

"Despite her protests, he forced her to have sexual intercourse with him.

"It is the prosecution case that throughout this period, it was perfectly obvious that she was not consenting and that the defendant will have known that she was not consenting."

Arif Patala, 35, and Nighat Anwar, 34, both of Blackburn, also stand accused of perverting the course of justice. They also deny the allegations.