I didn’t grope sailor, I fell into him, says former Navy officer
A FORMER senior Royal Navy officer accused of a series of indecent assaults has told his trial that the alleged groping of a young sailor was merely a “stumble down the stairs”.
Charles Howeson, 68, is accused of indecently assaulting several young men during his distinguished career.
Despite complaints to Navy officials more than 30 years ago, Mr Howeson was given a warning and went on to have a lengthy and decorated service.
He became a first lieutenant and second-in-command on a ship but his trial at Bristol Crown Court heard claims that he felt he was “too powerful” to be affected by complaints against him.
Daniel Janner QC, defending, described his client as a man of “great integrity, charm and popularity”.
Mr Howeson took the stand in his own defence and under questioning by his QC denied being attracted to young men and boys or being homosexual.
He said he had been “appalled and hurt” by the allegations and told how he joined the Royal Navy at 17 and rose through the ranks to commander until leaving in 1991 for “personal reasons”.
He explained that he left the service after he and his wife had lost a child while he was in Gibraltar. Also, a tenant had “wrecked our house” and “stolen most of our belongings” and his mother had died. The “triple whammy” left him feeling he wanted to spend more time with his family “and a little less time on my career”.
Mr Janner said that Mr Howeson, through his various leadership roles in business, had been “responsible for many thousands of people over his very long and successful career”.
Mr Howeson, of Plymouth, denies 11 counts of indecently assaulting 10 young men and a boy and one count of attempted buggery.
The attacks allegedly took place between December 1985 and August 1994. The first is said to have taken place on board HMS Cleopatra during a man overboard drill when a sailor claims he groped him.
Mr Howeson said he was “absolutely appalled” by the allegation and “horrified” when confronted by the ship’s captain the following day.
He said claims that he was helicoptered off the ship with a blanket over his head were wrong and that he had merely been transferred to another vessel, as per Navy rules.
A second claim of indecent assault on another man while on the bridge of a ship was the result of a trip on a blackout curtain, claimed Mr Howeson.
He said he had “stumbled slightly” and fallen down four small steps, bumping “chest to chest” with the sailor and knocking him back a few inches. He added that he had apologised to the sailor. The trial continues.