Royal Navy sailor Andrew Donaldson jailed for sex assault

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-32835854

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A Royal Navy sailor who sexually assaulted a male colleague with a beer bottle on board a warship has been jailed for five years.

Logistician Andrew Donaldson was found guilty by a panel of senior officers of a charge of assault by penetration.

The 34-year-old was dismissed with disgrace from the service and ordered to sign the sex offenders register.

Two other sailors were jailed following the incident aboard the Plymouth-based frigate HMS Northumberland.

Leading Seaman Christopher Cook, 31, was found guilty of disgraceful conduct of an indecent kind and has been jailed for 15 months and dismissed with disgrace and disrated.

Leading Logistician Roger Spratt, 28, had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to the same offence of disgraceful conduct for filming the incident using Donaldson's mobile phone. He was sentenced to eight months' detention and was disrated to the rank of able seaman.

'Force used'

The incident happened when the HMS Northumberland was alongside at Bournemouth, Dorset, for an air show in August 2013.

Nadim Bashir, prosecuting, told the trial at Portsmouth Naval Base's court martial centre the victim had been drinking heavily after being invited to an event at the petty officer's mess and had fallen asleep.

Mr Bashir said that a number of other members of the ship's company had also posed for photographs next to the victim, either sticking their tongues out or with their thumbs up.

In a statement read to the court, the victim said that he had drunk six cans of cider in an hour, which had caused him to vomit several times.

He said: "I was very drunk, for this to wake me up demonstrates the force used. At no time have I given anyone permission to touch me or carry out such an act."