'A special constable raped me and made me fear for my life'

Tyler was a vulnerable 18-year-old when they first got chatting online to someone they believed to be a girl of 16.

But the "girl" turned out to be a man in his 20s called James Bubb, who has been jailed for 24 years at Aylesbury Crown Court for raping Tyler, as well as grooming and raping a 12-year-old child.

Bubb was a Metropolitan Police special constable and also a theatre technician at Harrow School, north-west London.

The 28-year-old, from Chesham, Buckinghamshire, now identifies as a woman named Gwyn Samuels but was referred to by his biological sex throughout his trial.

"He was just a narcissist from day one," says Tyler, who uses they/them pronouns and whose name has been changed in this story to protect their identity.

Tyler said they first encountered Bubb on the online chat site Omegle, where he initially posed as a fellow teenage girl, before meeting in person several months later, in early 2018, when it was apparent Bubb was male.

"I had poor mental health, I had issues forming friendships, and I had a 20 to 21-year-old-guy who was paying me attention and wanted to talk to me and made me feel like he cared about me."

Tyler said it had seemed at first like a "daft rom-com film", but then Bubb's behaviour changed. Later, his "manipulation and gaslighting" meant Tyler felt unable to break off the relationship.

"I was so lonely I didn't want to see it. I just wanted to feel loved. I was so under his influence by that point, he could say 'jump' and I'd say 'how high?' on a lot of things."

The on-off relationship continued over five years and Tyler became increasingly fearful.

"I would be cleaning his flat top to bottom with near enough a toothbrush to keep him happy."

Tyler said they would "bottle up" emotions because if Bubb saw them upset, he would tell them that they could not leave his home until they were smiling again.

"He saw me happy, he saw me laughing, because that kept him happy, and keeping him happy meant I was safer."

Despite refusing to say publicly they were in a relationship, Bubb behaved in a possessive manner, Tyler said.

"If any other guy tried to approach me, or talk to me, his hand was on my shoulder, his hand was near my neck. It was all very much staking his claim."

During the trial, jurors heard that Bubb had used knives during sex when Tyler was blindfolded.

"There were times where I thought he could kill me with his actions," Tyler told me, describing how Bubb had used police restraint techniques.

"They don't leave a mark, necessarily, so I would be restrained, I'd be held back, I'd be put into a painful position so that I would comply to what he wanted."

Bubb began to volunteer with the Met Police Central West team as a special constable in September 2020.

Tyler said Bubb "loved every second of being a special".

"He would cancel plans to go out and do more shifts. He would want to talk about it all the time."

But his job added to Tyler's fears over reporting his abuse.

"I've got no clout against a special constable officer working in the Met, that's how I felt. I felt that I wasn't safe to report because it would get back to him. I felt that if I did report, I wouldn't be taken seriously."

It was after Thames Valley Police (TVP) began an investigation into allegations made by the younger victim that Tyler was approached by officers and decided to report what had happened to them.

As with Tyler, Bubb had met the other victim, the 12-year-girl, on the Omegle chat site in 2018.

The trial was told he sexually assaulted her in public shortly before her 13th birthday and was caused to pull his trousers up after a dog-walker went past.

It was the shock of learning there had been a second victim, and how young she was, that made Tyler determined to give evidence against Bubb.

"The one thing that kept me going was knowing there was someone else and knowing that what I had to say would not only help me, it would help her."

In August, Bubb was found guilty of one count of rape against Tyler.

He was also convicted of one count of raping a child under 13, one count of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration and one count of assault by penetration.

Tyler questions why Bubb's predatory behaviour was not spotted by others.

"There is no way he was behaving like that with me and wasn't showing signs of it out on the job."

Tyler said Bubb had expressed ambitions to become a police officer and to work for the specialist teams that investigate rape and child sexual abuse. They fear he was hoping to target more potential victims.

"What you were doing to me wasn't enough, you needed more, and that is terrifying. And if he did that to other people, then that's horrific."

TVP has previously said it is keeping an open mind as to whether Bubb may have abused others and has encouraged anyone with information to come forward.

Although Tyler said they had had "incredible support" from family members and others through the criminal justice process, the experience had been "tough".

Tyler believes they may never fully recover from Bubb's abuse.

"He loved controlling me and manipulating me, and doing what he wanted to me, and knowing that I wouldn't fight back.

"That is what he loved. It wasn't me, it was the concept of being the one in power and the one with authority, and realistically that is probably why he wanted to be a special constable and why he wanted to join the police."

Tyler said that while there were many "fantastic" people working in policing, the abuse had shaken their trust.

"I know that if I were to ever be pulled over, the first thing I'd be doing is requesting their references. I know that I still look over my shoulder now if I walk around by myself because I don't know who is safe to be around."

• The Met Police has said that Bubb was suspended immediately after his arrest by TVP on 30 April 2024 and that no complaints had previously been made about his conduct. He was dismissed for gross misconduct in September following his conviction.
• Simon Stancombe, of the Met's anti-corruption and abuse command, said his actions were "completely despicable".
• Harrow School said Bubb was employed as a member of support staff between 2018 and April 2024 and that his contract was terminated once it had been alerted by the authorities.
• In a statement, the school said: "Having made the appropriate internal inquiries and communicating fully with the police and the local authority designated officer, we have no reason to believe that they engaged in any misconduct towards pupils or colleagues at the school."

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