After allegedly telling a girl she was boring, a Royal Navy Sailor was cleared. He then attacked her with his car in a remote area of Dartmoor.
Able Seaman Connor Anderson was charged with ‘trapping the woman’ by driving her to a place without phone service, locking her car and forcing her on twice.
A court martial heard that the woman was afraid of being killed because she didn’t know how 21-year olds were capable.
But AB Anderson of HMS Portland – a Type 23 frigate based out of Plymouth – was found not guilty of raping the woman after he claimed that the sex was consensual.
Two charges were denied and he was found not guilty.
21-year-old Able Seaman Connor Anderson was cleared by a court martial at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire of two counts each of rape
Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire heard that the woman agreed to have a chat with AB Anderson in his car, before he took her to Devon’s remote areas in the wee hours of the morning.
According to the woman, he had kissed her in the car while they were driving but she said she didn’t want to go out with him.
Graham Coombes, the prosecutor, told the court that AB Anderson had been accused of raping and forcibly performing sex acts on the victim. According to him, all sexual activity was consented.
The complainant told the hearing she felt she ‘had no choice’ over what was to happen to her as AB Anderson had locked the doors to his car after asking her to move to the backseat with him.
Video evidence was shown to court. She said that she thought that “I am stuck here” because he locked the doors of the car and had the keys with him. I then just lay on the floor. He was perched on me, with his arms down my pants. I replied “no”.
“[I thought]It is not up to me to choose what happens. It’s impossible to get out of the car, and there is no place for me or my family to go to.
“There wasn’t a service available on my mobile phone, so there was no way to contact anyone.”
After the lady had met him in his car for a pleasant chat, he took her to Dartmoor. (file photo at the top)
She stated that AB Anderson would not accept no as an answer’.
Instead of pushing him off, she stated to the court she “just froze” and didn’t know what to do.
She said, “I was just thinking about how long this is going to last. What is going to happen next; will he hurt me?
I felt my soul escape my body and my thoughts went to another place. It was like my body was all that existed.
AB Anderson has been cleared of the two counts of rape.