THE former wife of an ex-police chief facing sex charges told how she twice caught him naked with young men in their Caterham swimming pool.
Susan Gaisford said she had forgiven her husband on both occasions and tried to start afresh – but later asked for a divorce after he admitted having a sexual affair with a teenage boy.
Philip Gaisford, 64, a retired Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent, faces 33 charges involving nine alleged victims, five of them underage.
Eleven of the alleged assaults are said to have occurred near the poolside of his former home in Colburn Avenue, Caterham, while he gave one-to-one scuba diving tuition.
Speaking from behind a screen at Lewes Crown Court, his ex-wife said she caught him naked, lying on top of a naked young man in their garden.
She said she overheard her ex-husband saying "will you do the same to me?"
Recalling a second alleged incident two years later, in 2003, she recalled: "I lifted up the swimming pool cover and saw Philip naked in the water with a naked boy.
"Philip's hands were towards the boy's private parts. I just screamed.
"He said 'darling, I'm sorry.'
"Like a fool I said we should sell up and make a fresh start where no-one knows us."
The couple, who have two sons, moved to Crowborough in East Sussex in 2003 – where the other alleged offences are said to have taken place.
Prosecutor Mark Gadsden read an extract from a letter Gaisford had allegedly sent his former wife.
It said: "I had an irresistible need for a buzz, excitement and to live on the edge.
"I was a sex addict."
His former wife told the court: "I'm not out to destroy him.
"It's very hard doing this today, having been with someone for all those years."
Gaisford denies nine offences of indecent assault, two of rape, one count of indecency with a child, four of sexual activity with a child, four sexual assaults, three attempted sexual assaults and ten counts of possession of indecent photos and videos.
He has also pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice after he allegedly sent an e-mail to the family of an alleged underage victim asking them not to co-operate with the police.
The trial continues, and is scheduled to finish towards the end of May.
