I rented a room from an ex-cop but it turned into a 'living nightmare'

A woman who was hounded for sex by her ex-police officer landlord has revealed how he wouldn't even let her lock her door at night.

Terry Cooke, 49, was last week handed a restraining order over a 'persistent' five-month campaign of harassment against lodger Lin Eriksen.

It came just 18 months after he was sacked as a PC with Hampshire Constabulary for using his position to pursue vulnerable women.

Miss Eriksen has now revealed the sickening texts Cooke would send her, constantly badgering her for sex and suggesting that they shower together.

The therapeutic practitioner, 29, detailed how sharing a home with him became so uncomfortable, she even began staying at her ex-partner's house in a desperate bid to avoid him.

Cooke also refused to let Miss Eriksen have a lock on her door because he wanted his cat to be able to roam freely around the house.

Speaking exclusively of her ordeal to MailOnline, she said: 'I told him so many times this was inappropriate, we need to have this tenant and landlord relationship.

'It was a nightmare living there. My friends told me they were scared on my behalf.'

Cooke was found guilty of a 'persistent' campaign of harassment that lasted for five months and was handed a restraining order for two years at Portsmouth Crown Court last week.

Miss Eriksen, a live-in nanny in London, was looking for a room to rent in Basingstoke over the weekends when she wasn't working in October 2021 for her and her then-partner when they came across Cooke's advert on the website, Spareroom.

She said: '[Cooke] would send messages like 'What are you up to this weekend?'. He obviously knew I was in a relationship, but it still felt a bit too personal.

'But my partner and I just both thought, 'Oh, he's just a friendly guy who wants to make sure that the people he potentially will rent the room to will be on the same wavelength'.'

At the time Cooke declined to rent the room, and it was more than a year later in November 2022,  when she messaged him back, now single, to enquire about it and ended up renting it.

She said: 'The agreement was that I would stay there on the weekend because I worked and was living in London from Monday to Friday, and then would live in Basingstoke Friday to Sunday.'

Miss Eriksen resigned from her job in London around December 2022 and moved into the Basingstoke home full-time.

She recounted the messages: 'To begin with, I thought, he's just over friendly, he's complimenting me, but it got progressively worse.'

The messages became more intrusive from that point onwards as he started asking her if she wanted to have no-strings-attached sex.

'All the conversations when I came downstairs, even if only to get a drink, would be: 'Oh by the way, have you seen my text? [about having sex] And 'what do you think about it, it would be so cool, and it would be so easy, and it would be lovely'. And all these things.

'I told him so many times this was inappropriate, we need to have this tenant and landlord relationship.

'But it just kept getting worse, and it was at the point when I was living there that I would never go downstairs unless he was out because I felt so unsafe and uncomfortable.'

One message shared with MailOnline read: 'We could have a shower together maybe. That would be so hot. Sorry I'm horny today lol and I so want this with you.'

Another read: 'I would love to get a message from you saying you're really horny and going to have a shower.'

Leaving the house crossed her mind, but she claims it wasn't as easy to find alternative accommodation because she is from Denmark and a lot of paperwork is involved.

She said: 'It was a nightmare living there', adding, 'It got to the point where I even stayed at my ex-partner's house because I was so uncomfortable'.

She added: 'My friends told me they were scared on my behalf'.

The campaign of harassment, which lasted for five months, culminated on March 1, 2023, when Cooke knocked on her door at midnight.

She said: 'One night I had been staying in my bedroom for the majority of the day and went to bed at 10 or 11pm and woke up to a knock on the door.

'And I didn't say anything, because I was obviously scared that the next thing that he would do was come into my bedroom. He refused to have any lock on the door due to his cat.'

She described: 'I was in shock because I was scared of what was going to happen to me.

'Then he knocked again and again. I didn't say anything, just stayed there still and then I heard him going to his own bedroom.'

She rung the police the following morning and Cooke was then arrested and following a trial, he was found guilty of one charge of harassment without violence.

Mitigating, Martin Kessler said the former police officer was of 'good character' adding: 'He has learnt his lesson and the chances of this happening again are very slim indeed.

This came after in April 2021, Cooke was struck off Hampshire Constabulary for using his position to pursue vulnerable women.

This involved a number of incidents including when he asked the victim of a car crash on a date at the scene of the accident and called her friend the next day to repeat the offer.

The misconduct panel at the time said his behaviour was 'troubling' and he had 'systematically abused' his position.

Reacting to this, Miss Eriksen said: 'It's terrifying that someone who's supposed to protect and serve is actually doing the exact opposite.'

Cooke was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 25 rehabilitation days, a fine of £120, a victim surcharge of £114 and ordered to pay court costs of £650.