A British Army staff sergeant ‘dry-humped’ a naked female colleague as she slept after a boozy dinner, a court martial heard.
The alleged victim woke up to find SSgt James Powe rubbing himself against her, a panel was told.
SSgt Powe, who was engaged to be married, left after she woke up and told him to stop.
He later messaged the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to ask if she was on the pill.
The staff sergeant of the 1st Signal Regiment denies sexual assault at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire.
Prosecuting, Captain Ciaran Rafferty, told the court the alleged assault happened after both soldiers attended an Army ‘dine-out’ – a mess dinner – during which the woman drank shots.
It was the first time she had attended such event and it was heard that SSgt Powe had offered her advice on etiquette.
After the dinner, the two went back to the alleged victim’s room where, the prosecutor said, ‘there may have been some consensual kissing and stripping of clothes’.
The alleged victim woke up to find SSgt James Powe, pictured, rubbing himself against her, a panel was told
The staff sergeant of the 1st Signal Regiment denies sexual assault at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, pictured
Capt Rafferty said the following morning the staff sergeant woke up the alleged victim by ‘pushing his penis against her’ in her ‘back and bottom area’, adding: ‘[She] didn’t consent to this behaviour.’
The woman told the court she had been drinking and could not remember what happened before she woke up to the alleged assault.
Describing the incident, she said: ‘So I woke up, must’ve been about half past seven and I was facing the wall.
‘And then, because at the time I just felt his penis rubbing against me, it was almost like he was trying to initiate sex I felt like at the time, I turn[ed] around and was like ‘What the f***?’.’
She said she didn’t know who it was in bed beside her when she felt his penis rubbing against her, and added she felt ‘very vulnerable’ as she was ‘completely naked’ at the time.
The alleged victim continued: ‘I was like ‘S***, why are you in my bed?’
Following this, she claims SSgt Powe got up and said ‘I’m going to be late for work’ and then left.
Speaking of how it felt to wake up next to him, she said: ‘It wasn’t a very nice feeling, I felt sick to my stomach, I felt sort of taken advantage of.’
She said she was unsettled by the fact that she didn’t know how long the assault ad been going on for,
She was later told by a colleague that he was engaged at the time.
The alleged victim added: ‘He messaged me that day asking if I was on the pill.’
The soldier spoke to a doctor about her concern that there was a possibility she could be pregnant because this text made her worry he had done more than just rubbing against her.
‘I’m never going to be able to prove that, but in the back of my mind that kind of made me feel worse,’ she said.
She said that she had time off work after the incident, and when she bumped into SSgt Powe for the first time after it happened, she was sick in a ‘trauma response’.
The alleged victim said: ‘He was down there, and then I got back to work and ran to the bathroom and vomited.
‘To be honest with you, I think that was the first time I’d seen him since the incident.’
Capt. Rafferty said that SSgt Powe’s defence is that he ‘woke up when his phone alarm went off, that he got changed very quickly and left the room while [the alleged victim] was still sleeping’.
The trial continues.