New shame of HMS Cocaine ...sailor paid a prostitute, then stole cash back
A BRITISH sailor from a Trident nuclear submarine bedded a prostitute then stole the money he had given her, according to a police report seen by The Mail on Sunday.
The crewman is from Clydebased HMS Vigilant – dubbed ‘HMS Sex And Cocaine’ after four officers were disciplined for having affairs with fellow crew and nine sailors were kicked out of the service after testing positive for the class-A drug.
The sailor met the prostitute, Abria Gooden, in a bar near the port of Kings Bay, Georgia, not far from where the sub had docked just days earlier.
After giving Ms Gooden $160 (£120) and having sex with her, he took the money back from her purse as she was getting dressed, according to a US police report.
Last night, a senior US police officer accused other Vigilant sailors of lying in a bid to obstruct the investigation into the alleged theft.
The policeman said they gave a fake name – ‘Stephen Dwight’ – for their comrade and also claimed they belonged to HMS Valiant, a submarine withdrawn from service 23 years ago.
The embarrassing claims threaten to further damage the Royal Navy’s reputation following the shock disclosure that sailors from HMS Vigilant took cocaine after she docked in the United States last month.
Four officers, including the sub’s Scottish captain Commander Stuart Armstrong, 41, from Rhu, Dunbartonshire, have also been removed from the vessel amid claims of sexual affairs and booze-fuelled parties.
The boat’s second-in-command, Lieutenant Commander Michael Seal, was hauled off for what is believed to be an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a female engineering officer on board.
Until the scandal broke, Lt Commander Seal lived in Kirkcaldy, Fife, with his 36-yearold wife, Jennifer.
The official police report into the theft described how, at just before midnight on September 18, Ms Gooden, 28, told a police officer a British man had stolen her money and run off to a bar called the Wee Pub. Policeman Gary Nichols then accompanied her into the bar. He later wrote: ‘Ms Gooden spoke with some of the other male subjects in the Wee Pub, who she identified were with the male who stole from her.
‘They told her the male’s name was Stephen Dwight and he was a sailor with the British Navy stationed on the Valiant. Ms Gooden stated she met Mr Dwight at 10.40pm and at 11pm they went to an ATM, got some money and Mr Dwight gave her $160. They then went to the Cumberland Inn and Suites. They had sexual intercourse and while she was getting dressed Mr Dwight took the money from her purse and ran out of her room.’
Last night the Royal Navy confirmed it had no record of a submariner called Stephen Dwight.
The local police commander is adamant the men in the bar gave misleading answers. Lieutenant Shannon Brock said: ‘The Royal Navy sailors lied to the police. Stephen Dwight is a fake name and we suspected then that there was a likelihood of the name not being correct. They also definitely said they were from HMS Valiant, not HMS Vigilant.’
Stephen Dwight’s alleged crime is listed on the US police report as ‘Theft by Taking-Misdemeanor’. The same document says a second submariner, also believed to be a Vigilant sailor, paid for the hotel room.
US police dropped the case when they were unable to establish Stephen Dwight’s identity.
The Navy said: ‘If a member of the Armed Forces is found to have fallen below the high standards expected, appropriate action will be taken.’
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