14/03/2007

Navy sailor jailed for colleague's rape

A Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer has been jailed for five years for raping a female colleague on board a warship.

Chief Petty Officer Phillip Coates, 30, from Devon, was found guilty of raping the 24-year-old rating while at sea in the Mediterranean last year, by a court martial panel in Portsmouth last week.

He has also been dismissed from the service, demoted and deprived of good conduct badges and will also have to sign the Sex Offenders' Register when he is released on license from prison.

Coates had denied raping his colleague and told the court martial that the sex was consensual.

The court martial heard that the victim had been in a distressed state the following day and had some injuries and minor bruising.

However, she recalled details of the assault two months later, using a psychotherapy technique called Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing.

The case is believed to be the first time that a Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer has been prosecuted for raping a female sailor.

(KMcA/SP)

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