Royal Navy sailor is found guilty of sex attack on sleeping crew mate

Royal Navy sailor is found guilty of sex attack on sleeping crew mate after claiming he had no memory because his ‘drink was spiked’ on boozy night out after Prince Charles visited

  • Able Seaman Sean Bramwell, 25, was convicted of sexually assaulting colleague
  • A court martial heard he crept into the bed of one of his colleagues, got undressed and began kissing her neck before she woke up and kicked him out
  • AB Bramwell claimed he must have been drugged before the alleged assault

A Royal Navy sailor was today convicted of sexually assaulting a junior colleague after a drunken night out.  

Able Seaman Sean Bramwell, 25, said ‘morale was high’ among the crew following a visit from Prince Charles, and some of the sailors decided to go out that night for a few drinks in Tokyo, Japan.

A court martial heard that when he got back to his ship, AB Bramwell, from Plymouth, crept into the bed of one of his colleagues, got undressed and began kissing her neck before she woke up and kicked him out.

The victim told the court she woke to find him touching her stomach and kissing the back of her neck. She began kicking him and told him to get out of her bed before he stood up and began trashing her room and swearing at her, the court heard.

AB Bramwell, based at HMNB Devonport, claimed he must have been drugged before the alleged assault as he ‘couldn’t remember three or four hours from that night’. 

But at today’s hearing in Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, he put his head in his hands and began sobbing after a board of four men and one woman took just two hours to find him guilty. 

Giving evidence at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, Able Seaman Sean Bramwell, 25, said ‘morale was high’ among the crew following a visit from Prince Charles, and some of the sailors decided to go out that night for a few drinks in Tokyo, Japan

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court: ‘I heard banging and felt someone kissing my neck and I was really confused.

‘He was in my bed and he wrapped his arms around me. He started kissing my neck and his hands were going towards my shorts.’

Giving evidence, AB Bramwell had said: ‘When we moved to Tokyo we had Prince Charles visit and we did the guard for that.

‘Everyone was in quite high morale after that; it’s not every day that happens.’

He told the court that he and a few other members of the crew went out after and started the night by having a couple of Amstel beers at a ‘robot show’ in the Shinjuku district of the Japanese city.

He said the group then headed to a nearby Hooters bar where he proceeded to knock back two gin and tonics and two double vodka oranges.

They then went onto another bar where he drank four more double vodkas.

The engineering technician claimed he must have been drugged before the alleged assault.

AB Bramwell continued: ‘A crew-mate bought a margarita and said ‘that seems a bit off, what do you think?’

‘I tried the margarita and then I remember five minutes later sitting down thinking ‘that’s disgusting’ and saying as much to everyone around. Then it was blackout basically.’

He claimed the next thing he remembered was walking along a road and convincing his two friends to get a taxi back to the ship.

He added: ‘I managed to hail down a cab and managed to get myself and the other two gents in the cab… Then I don’t remember anything until the next morning…’

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has told the court: ‘At 3am I heard banging and felt someone kissing my neck and I was really confused…

The engineering technician, based at HMNB Devonport, claimed he must have been drugged before the alleged assault as he ‘couldn’t remember three or four hours from that night’ 

‘He was in my bed and he wrapped his arms around me. He started kissing my neck and his hands were going towards my shorts.’

She told the court he then told her to ‘shut up you stupid c***’ and began knocking items off the drawers in her cabin before slumping down naked in a chair.

She helped him put his boxer shorts back on before going to find the duty officer who helped remove the drunken sailor from her cabin.

After waking up in his room the next day AB Bramwell completed a few early morning duties before reporting to the medical office claiming to be unwell.

He said: ‘I felt horrible. I felt like I had been punched about 100 times.

‘It was like my whole body was aching. My eyes felt like they were about to fall out of my head. I had a headache but it’s not like any hangover I have ever had.’

Prosecuting, William Peters said there was no evidence of any drugs in a urine sample AB Bramwell provided, but he accepted that ‘not every single drug’ had been tested for.

Prince Charles had been visiting Japan on a two day tour of the country to promote UK-Japanese relations and visited the ship while it was docked at Harumi Pier.

AB Bramwell denied but was convicted of one count of sexual assault by touching. 

He will be sentenced at a later date. 

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