Highsky
03-09-2007, 12:21 PM
Woman Raped On Warship
A Royal Navy officer has been found guilty of raping a 24-year-old female on board a warship while at sea.
Chief Petty Officer Phillip Coates was found guilty at a court martial in Portsmouth of attacking the woman while at sea in the Mediterranean.
The officer had claimed he had consensual sex with his junior colleague in the incident, which happened between March 8 and 9 last year.
But the trial at HMS Nelson, Portsmouth Naval Base, Hants, heard that the 30-year-old married medical assistant followed his victim into a small room between decks and pulled her trousers and underwear down before raping her on a small bunk.
The trial heard that the victim was left in such a distressed state by the attack that she could only recall "images" and "gut feelings" about the incident.
It was only two months later, after she underwent a controversial psychotherapy technique called Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), that she was able to remember details of the sexual assault.
The court heard that she drank a bottle of rose wine, a vodka and lemonade and two glasses of punch during the barbecue, which was held to mark the end of Flag Officer Sea Training exercises.
Coates, who was of previous good character, had come on board the ship to help organise the training.
He told the trial that after the party he had been talking with his victim on the quarterdeck and they began kissing before moving to a small room between decks.
The victim, who was described as being in a "happy, bubbly" mood during the evening, was found in the early hours sobbing and in a distressed state.
She admitted in a statement that she kissed the defendant but had not consented to sex and added that she found the entire ordeal "repulsive".
Coates, who had been married for only eight months at the time, was arrested a few hours later.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1255124,00.html?f=rss
A Royal Navy officer has been found guilty of raping a 24-year-old female on board a warship while at sea.
Chief Petty Officer Phillip Coates was found guilty at a court martial in Portsmouth of attacking the woman while at sea in the Mediterranean.
The officer had claimed he had consensual sex with his junior colleague in the incident, which happened between March 8 and 9 last year.
But the trial at HMS Nelson, Portsmouth Naval Base, Hants, heard that the 30-year-old married medical assistant followed his victim into a small room between decks and pulled her trousers and underwear down before raping her on a small bunk.
The trial heard that the victim was left in such a distressed state by the attack that she could only recall "images" and "gut feelings" about the incident.
It was only two months later, after she underwent a controversial psychotherapy technique called Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), that she was able to remember details of the sexual assault.
The court heard that she drank a bottle of rose wine, a vodka and lemonade and two glasses of punch during the barbecue, which was held to mark the end of Flag Officer Sea Training exercises.
Coates, who was of previous good character, had come on board the ship to help organise the training.
He told the trial that after the party he had been talking with his victim on the quarterdeck and they began kissing before moving to a small room between decks.
The victim, who was described as being in a "happy, bubbly" mood during the evening, was found in the early hours sobbing and in a distressed state.
She admitted in a statement that she kissed the defendant but had not consented to sex and added that she found the entire ordeal "repulsive".
Coates, who had been married for only eight months at the time, was arrested a few hours later.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1255124,00.html?f=rss