Judge attacks Forces’ booze culture as Navy officer cleared of rape
A JUDGE slammed the military yesterday for ‘disgraceful drunken behaviour’ after a Royal Navy officer was cleared of raping a female colleague.
Sub lieutenant Samuel Mitchell, 27, was accused of raping her in her cabin after a drunken ball at a Royal Navy college when they were both officer cadets.
He had previously indulged in a sex act with another female guest before seeking out the woman because he was drunk and ‘wanted sex’.
After going to her room, he had sex with her and she got back into bed with him afterwards.
She admitted she had experienced an orgasm during the sex but said that was an ‘involuntary reaction’.
As Mr Mitchell was cleared of two counts of rape after a four-day court martial, a judge attacked his behavdrunken iour and that of fellow sailors. Judge Advocate General Jeff Blackett called for the authorities to clamp down on drunkenness which shamed the Armed Forces.
Addressing Mr Mitchell, he said: ‘Whatever happened to her on that evening… she didn’t invite you in to her cabin. You took advantage of her. She was in an inebriated state and you were looking for sex.
‘I make no criticism of her for coming forward and making a complaint against you. The panel has given you the benefit of doubt.
‘You should be absolutely clear that your behaviour on that evening was disgraceful and so was the way you conducted yourself afterwards.
‘It’s not the conduct one expects of a naval officer. I hope you have learnt a lesson to respect your fellow officers of either sex.’
Judge Blackett, who was a Royal Navy commodore, also criticised the behaviour in the services, saying: ‘This is yet another case I have sat on where excessive alcohol has been consumed by service personnel which has led to disgraceful behaviour. I hope the Service Prosecuting Authority takes action.’
Mr Mitchell, who described himself as ‘a bit of a lad’, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out by the board at Portsmouth Military Court.
He was accused of attacking the cadet after going to her room at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon, on May 8 last year. He sought her out after engaging in consensual sexual activity with a civilian guest at the ball, who then said no to full sex and left on good terms.
After returning to his room, Mr Mitchell decided to find the cadet who was asleep in her cabin. She claimed she remained passive during sex to show she did not consent and told him ‘no sex’, but said she was too drunk to articulate herself clearly.
She also admitted getting back into bed with the defendant after the two-hour sex session and falling asleep next to him. The woman had drunk four small glasses of Pimms, a small glass of red wine, a sip of champagne, a double gin and tonic and a little of a second gin and tonic.
Another female guest said she had helped the woman get into her pyjamas and left a bin by her bed in case she needed to be sick.
Mr Mitchell said the woman made ‘pleasure noises’ and told him he was ‘amazing’ and ‘really good’. He added that when the pair woke up, she gave him a goodbye kiss on the lips. He then went and told a male colleague he had had sex with her.
Nick Lewin, defending, said the woman may have regretted the drunken sex. The court heard that after breaking the Royal Navy’s ‘no sex’ rule, she threatened Mr Mitchell, saying she would ‘ruin his career’ if he told anyone of their liaison.
‘Took advantage of her’