Instructor who stalked Navy’s poster girl ‘abused rank’
A YOUNG Royal Navy pilot was stalked for years by her flying instructor who told a court martial he had been badly affected by the death of other trainees.
Leading Aircrewman Hannah Leask was left suffering from severe anxiety after being bombarded with unwanted calls, messages and gifts in a campaign of harassment.
The pilot, who has appeared in award-winning Royal Navy photographs, felt so “hounded” that she ended up being signed off flying duties.
Lt Cdr Andrew Thompson, a 52-yearold instructor and pilot with 815 Naval Air Squadron, was yesterday dismissed from the Navy and given a six-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to stalking.
Judge Jeff Blackett, Judge Advocate General, told Thompson, who is also an intelligence expert, that he had abused his rank and it was “inconceivable” he could carry on serving.
Ordering him to pay £5,000 in compensation, Judge Blackett said Thompson, from Salisbury, who is married with two children, would also have to attend a rehabilitation course to get help.
The judge told him at the hearing at Portsmouth Naval Base that LACMN Leask had “lived in constant dread of you getting in contact with her”.
Capt Alison Towler, prosecuting, said the pair met briefly in September 2011 and he soon sent her a Facebook friend request. When she accepted he replied with a card and chocolates to thank her. He continued to send messages and obtained her mobile phone number.
Capt Towler said: “She transferred and he became one of her instructors. She thought that his behaviour in messages was odd but ultimately thought he did not overstep the professional boundary.”
However, the volume of text messages eventually began to “cause a great deal of distress”.
Capt Towler said: “Whatever she did the volume of texts and messages didn’t stop. She didn’t want to complain in fear of putting her job in jeopardy.”
But by December 2013, Capt Towler said, “the volume of communication had increased so much she felt hounded, he told her he needed her to keep him in a good place.
“When LACMN Leask split with her boyfriend in March 2014, Thomson declared his love and bombarded her with messages.” She “unfriended” him on Facebook and within an hour he questioned her about it.
Capt Towler said: “Because of this she felt like she was being watched by him. She told him to stop talking to her and she would report it.
“An email conversation ended with her saying ‘stop, stop, stop messaging me, I feel harassed’.”
The letters, gifts and messages continued. When she went to her chain of command, Thompson received a verbal warning and the conversations de- creased. Capt Towler said matters came to a head during an open day at RNAS Culdrose. Thompson sought her out and then followed her and her boyfriend around.
Thompson later sent an email to LACMN Leask, complaining about a picture of the couple put on Facebook. Thompson said the image “did not pass the service test” because they were kissing. In a victim impact statement read out in court, Ms Leask said: “I would readily break down in tears and struggle to breathe, I struggled to complete everyday tasks and because of stress broke out with a skin condition.
“I was signed off flying duties because of stress.”
Bob Scott, defending, said Thompson was “truly mortified and sorry” for his behaviour. In 2002 and 2003, he lost many servicemen whom he had trained, which he believes explains why he became attached to LACMN Leask. He said: “In 2003 servicemen he trained lost their lives and this affected him. Three other crew he trained lost their lives.
“This was not about sex. He has not ever sought to have sex with her.”
‘I would readily break down in tears, I struggled to complete everyday tasks’