Officers who cover up rape will be prosecuted

SENIOR officers in the Armed Forces who cover up allegations of rape and sexual assault will be prosecuted, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Ministers have decided to change the law so that commanding officers who become aware of allegations will be obliged to tell the police.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies warned last year that officers were failing to refer crimes such as assault and sexual offences to the Royal Military Police, raising fears there was a culture of protecting suspects.

A Ministry of Defence source said: “A commanding officer has always been obliged to investigate any allegation thoroughly, but may have used his or her discretion with regards to making the service police aware.

“Now they will have no choice but to flag the case to the service police.”

The police will then have a duty to pass on the case file to the Director of Service Prosecutions. Mark Lancaster, the Armed Forces Minister, said: “We have always made it clear that there is no place for sexual offending in the Armed Forces and that all allegations will be investigated thoroughly.”

The changes follow the deaths of four trainees at Deepcut barracks and that of military police trainee Anne-Marie Ellement, who was found hanged in 2011 after claiming she had been raped by two Army colleagues in 2009. Her two colleagues were subsequently cleared of rape, though their conduct was severely criticised by the judge.