Sandhurst cadet accused of rape after drinking spree
A TRAINEE British Army officer raped a female colleague who was so drunk she had to be carried up the stairs to his bedroom, a court martial was told.
Officer Cadet Harry Waters, 24, is accused of carrying the woman upstairs and having sex with her on his bed.
Bulford military court, in Wiltshire, heard Officer Cadet Waters invited a group of cadets to his family’s home in Guildford, Surrey, for a weekend while his parents were away. The alleged rape came after a day of heavy drinking to which the victim was not accustomed.
Officer Cadet Waters who denies rape, claimed his fellow cadet climbed on top of him, prompting him to ask: ‘“Do you want it?” The female trainee officer later told him if he had to carry her up the stairs it did not count as consent for sex.
Rupert Gregory, prosecuting, said that on the Saturday the group went to a pub in London. They then returned to Officer Cadet Waters’ family home where they continued drinking. Mr Gregory said the female officer cadet was “not used to the robust drinking culture”, had been drinking whisky and was more inebriated than anyone else.
He said the others went to bed, leaving Officer Cadet Waters and the woman alone, and that the pair started kissing. “She had quite a lot to drink,” Mr Gregory said. “He carried her upstairs. The next thing she recalls is that she has a flash of memory in his bed. He was on top of her, having sex with her. She was not sure if he had a condom on,” Mr Gregory added.
Officer Cadet Waters told police the woman had climbed on him on the sofa and he had asked her: “Do you want it? I don’t have a condom.”
The court heard the next morning Officer Cadet Waters was “regretful”.
At Sandhurst, the cadet confided in a friend who urged her to make a report but initially she did not do so. Months later, after speaking with the padre, she wrote a letter to Officer Cadet Waters accusing him of sexually assaulting her.
The trial, due to last more than two weeks, continues.
‘The next thing she recalls is she has a flash of memory in his bed. He was on top of her, having sex with her’