Five RAF airmen are detained after younger recruits had been made to ‘crawl like canine’ and whipped in humiliating initiation ritual – however are allowed to stay within the Armed Forces
Young RAF recruits were led around like dogs, whipped and made to sing children’s songs in a humiliating initiation ritual led by five airmen calling themselves ‘The Council’, a court martial has heard.
RAF Honington in Suffolk launched an investigation after footage of the ‘punishments’ meted out to young airmen was shared on a regimental WhatsApp group last year.
It raises further safeguarding questions about Honington, coming four years after a harrowing video came to light of another recruit being stripped naked and assaulted with a piece of mortar equipment.
A Court Martial judge detained five airmen last week for the most recent incident and warned initiation ceremonies must be stamped out for the sake of the reputation of the British armed forces.
However despite being sent to a military correctional facility, the five men – one of whom represents the RAF rugby team – were told they could ‘soldier on’ and will not be dismissed from the RAF.
After the hearing the Centre for Military Justice called for the Ministry of Defence to introduce more stringent systems to eradicate punishment beatings and initiation ceremonies.
And Child Rights International Network said it was a ‘shocking and degrading abuse of power,’ calling for an independent inquiry.
Catterick Military Court, North Yorks, was shown three video clips of a ‘kangaroo court’ made up of airmen Byron Coy, 20, Corey Cross, 19, Alfie Holcombe, 23, Connor McCulloch, 23, and Tomos Windridge, 20.
Tomos Windridge, 20, admitted conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline contrary to section 19(1) of the Armed Forces Act 2006 and was sentenced to six weeks
Corey Cross, 19, admitted disgraceful conduct of a cruel kind contrary to section 23(1) of the Armed Forces Act 2006 and was detained for 18 weeks
Talented RAF rugby player Connor McCulloch, 23, was also detained for 18 weeks
It showed three frightened new recruits to Honington being dragged one by one from their sleeping quarters and led into a darkened room with Gregorian chanting and an Islamic call to prayer being blasted at high volume.
There they were told they were appearing before ‘The Council,’ which comprised the five airmen, for minor misdemeanours for which they would be punished.
One of the young men pleaded for them to stop but had his hands whipped with rubber resistance bands used in physiotherapy treatments.
He further protested when he saw he was being filmed and McCulloch, described as a talented rugby player who has represented the RAF at senior level, looped a band around his neck and led him around like a dog.
His ‘punishment’ session ended with the young man curled up on the floor with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head.
All three young men were forced to crawl around on the floor as their tormentors stood over them snapping the bands and banging the doors of lockers to intimidate them.
Forced to kneel in front of Coy – who called himself ‘The Padre’ – the victims were then made to sing along to children’s songs.
During the song Baby Shark they were forced to do the accompanying actions for fear of being beaten and were also forced to sing: ‘Chicken wings, chicken wings, hot dogs and baloney.’
One victim was told to ‘bow down and hail’ to Coy, another was forced to walk like a monkey and a third was struck across the back by Alfie Holcombe with his service issue belt.
One of the victims told how the incident had left him ‘a recluse’ and fearful that he would be subjected to similar treatment throughout his RAF career.
In a statement he told the court: ‘This has made me more careful and more reclusive. It has made me question my faith in the RAF and especially the regiment.’
Byron Coy, 20, called himself ‘The Padre’ during the humiliating initiation ceremony and was sentenced to 18 weeks
Alfie Holcombe, 23, admitted conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline as well as battery and received a two week sentence to run concurrently with the six weeks
Assistant Judge Advocate General Edward Legard and a board of senior officers sent the five defendants to Colchester’s Military Corrective Training Centre for between six and 18 weeks.
It houses Armed Forces detainees sentenced to up to two years’ custody but is not a prison.
Judge Legard said: ‘This was physical and demeaning punishment and humiliation meted out against new recruits more junior than yourselves.
‘It was a form of initiation which, if the armed forces is to remain well recruited and operationally effective, it must root out and deter.’
He added: ‘Deterrent sentences must be passed, especially in the context of a training establishment. This type of behaviour can all too easily escalate into more serious bullying with serious and sometimes fatal consequences.”
However he told the five defendants they would be allowed to ‘soldier on,’ adding: ‘If you go to Colchester and apply yourselves you have nothing to fear and everything to gain.
‘There is no reason why each of you cannot emerge after your short stay better equipped for the challenges that lie ahead.’
Coy, McCulloch and Cross admitted disgraceful conduct of a cruel kind contrary to section 23(1) of the Armed Forces Act 2006 and each were detained for 18 weeks.
Windridge and Holcombe admitted the lesser charge of conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline contrary to section 19(1) of the Armed Forces Act 2006 and were sentenced to six weeks.
Holcombe further admitted battery and received a two week sentence to run concurrently with the six weeks.
Justin Hugheston-Roberts, for Coy, said he was genuinely remorseful for ‘crassly stupid and cruel behaviour.’
James Hay, for Windridge, said he had limited involvement in the offending and had stepped in to prevent physical harm to some of the victims.
Alex Rynn, for McCulloch and Cross, said the two would be sending letters of apology to their victims once legal proceedings were over and conceded they acted in a ‘cruel and indecent way.’
McCulloch, he said, had represented the RAF at under 23, Tri Service and full RAF level and described him as ‘a sportsman of great ability.’
Fiona Edington, for Holcombe, said he was older than his co defendants but lacked maturity. She said: ‘Through me he would like to apologise to the victims for his behaviour which was foolish, stupid and very immature.’
After the hearing on Friday, Lucy Baston of the Centre for Military Justice said: ‘The MoD says it has a zero-tolerance approach to harmful initiation ceremonies and traditions, yet cruel incidents, like the one that is alleged to have taken place recently at RAF Honington, continue to take place.
‘Better systems need to be put in place to ensure that these behaviours do not go unchallenged.’
Jim Patrick Wyke, National Security and Children’s Rights Coordinator, at the Child Rights International Network, said: ‘This is a shocking and degrading abuse of power, and our thoughts are with the young recruits whose trust was so brutally violated.’
The second incident comes after widespread condemnation of the 2021 attack involving Honington recruits.
At the time Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston said the RAF Police Special Investigation branch was investigating and the victims had been ‘offered our full support.’
