Navy nuclear chief slapped female officer on her bottom at Xmas party
A ROYAL Navy commander given an MBE by Prince Charles is being court martialled for slapping a female officer’s behind at a boozy party. Commander Steven Heap, 48, had been drinking for hours when he twice slapped the woman on the dance floor of a party at a naval base.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said yesterday that her right buttock was left sore following the alleged sexual assault at Christmas last year.
Heap, who received an MBE at Buckingham Palace in 2013, accepts he slapped the senior officer’s bottom at the base in Portsmouth, but claimed he was simply ‘joking about’.
Wing Commander Michael Saunders, prosecuting, told Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire: ‘There was a function, which started at midday and lasted until late at night.
‘Sometime after 6pm, after a band had started playing, the defendant slapped the buttock of the complainant on two occasions. The facts are not in dispute, the defendant accepts he did behave in that way.
‘He says it was not sexual, he was simply joking about.
‘He came up to her, pointed at something behind her and slapped her backside. Then, 20 minutes later, she went back on the dance floor. He approached her again, slapped her bottom again in a similar fashion.’
Heap, who was based at HMS Excellent in Portsmouth at the time, joined the Navy 30 years ago as a submariner. He is now a safety inspector for the Armed Forces’ nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered vessels.
The woman told the court: ‘I was with a friend at the bar when he came over and was disturbing that conversation.
‘That was the first time I had met him. He was clearly very drunk. I wanted nothing more to do with him. I was in civilian clothing and was enjoying myself with friends. But I became aware of somebody on my right. The defendant pointed to something and I went to turn to see what it was and felt a slap to my right butt cheek. It was a firm slap with his right hand.
‘I was very taken aback. I did not confront him, I just removed myself from the situation.
‘I was trying to enjoy myself still. I thought maybe it was just a mistake. I didn’t want it to ruin my evening, so again I went back on to the dance floor.
‘Again, I was aware of him in proximity to me and there was a second slap. It was much the same as the first one, with his right hand to my right buttock, which was sore from the first slap. I thought it was weird and inappropriate, but he was really drunk and I wanted to get the hell out of there.’
She subsequently complained, leading to Heap being charged.
He told the court: ‘When I was told there was an allegation of serious sexual assault, it threw me. I thought it meant rape. It was just drunken buffoonery.’
He insisted the slaps were not sexual because ‘I was not trying it on with her’, adding: ‘I thought it would be amusing, it was childish showboating.’
Heap, of Poole, Dorset, denies two counts of sexual assault.
The court martial continues.