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Lieutenant Rhys Christie claimed before he allegedly raped the 18-year-old that she had ‘touched his leg’ under a pub table and given him a ‘flirtatious look’
The captain of a Royal Navy ship who is accused of raping a teenage cadet today told a court martial ‘she was giving me the eye’.
Lieutenant Rhys Christie claimed the 18-year-old had ‘touched his leg’ under a pub table and had given him a ‘flirtatious look’ prior to the alleged rape.
The 28-year-old, who was commanding officer of Edinburgh-based HMS Archer for 10 months, is accused of ‘pouncing’ on the drunk cadet after two Royal Navy nights out.
He admits having sex with the woman, who was said to have vomited after drinking beer and shots, but insists she was not too drunk to consent.
Lt Christie, who now serves on nuclear submarine HMS Vengeance, also told a court martial in Wiltshire he ‘made a mistake’ in sleeping with the cadet as it broke Navy rules.
He denies five counts of rape. The charges comprise of vaginal and oral rape over the course of the two incidents.
The court martial, at Bulford Military Court, heard Lt Christie allegedly raped the woman – who can’t be identified for legal reasons – in Eyemouth, Scotland, and later in Ramsgate, Kent.
Giving evidence for the first time today, the officer admitted he ‘made a very poor judgement call’ by sleeping with the cadet due to the disparity in rank.
He said: ‘I made a mistake in sleeping with a [cadet], I knew that it was the wrong thing to do.’
Recalling the first incident, when they had been drinking with a group at a pub before the incident, he said: ‘She vomited towards the end of the night. Up until that point she had been fine.
The 28-year-old, who was commanding officer of Edinburgh-based HMS Archer (pictured) for 10 months, is accused of ‘pouncing’ on the drunk cadet after two Royal Navy nights out
‘She was intoxicated but not outwardly swaying or slurring her words. She vomited out of the blue, there were no signs it was coming.
‘My instinct was to get a pint of water for her so I did.’
Lt Christie said after she cleaned herself up ‘there was no indication she was ill’ and then claimed ‘she turned and tried to kiss me’.
He said: ‘I told her “no, not here”. We had been touching legs under the table leading up to that.
‘My plan was just to go back to the hotel [on his own].
‘[The cadet] just turned and came with me, she gave me a look.
‘It was like a flirtatious look, not a wink, but I would describe it as a wry smile. It was a flirty face.’
Lt Christie said the pair undressed and kissed in his hotel room, adding: ‘She was giving me the eye.’
The officer then described in detail to the court how the pair had sex in the room, including by the dressing table.
He said afterwards ‘she was smiling, there was positive body language’.
Lt Christie also said ‘she gave me no indication none of the sex was not welcome’.
In a police interview, seven months after the alleged rapes, Lt Christie told investigators the cadet was ‘not absolutely wasted, smashed or drunk’.
He claimed he was ‘not out looking for sex that day’ and that the cadet had initiated parts of their sexual activity.
The court martial had previously heard the cadet didn’t report her allegations for three months because she was ‘scared’ and ’embarrassed’.
The young woman said she didn’t feel ‘comfortable’ after she was allegedly sexually abused, the court martial heard.
Lt Christie, who now serves on nuclear submarine HMS Vengeance, denies five counts of rape. The charges comprise of vaginal and oral rape over the course of the two incidents
Officer Cadet Lee Emerson, who was drinking with Lt Christie and the cadet in Eyemouth, and Sub Lieutenant JJ Brown, who was drinking with them in Ramsgate, both told the court the woman was so drunk she struggled to walk.
OC Emerson said she vomited on the table, could ‘walk unaided but was not fully in control’, and said her ‘demeanour’ changed and she was no longer her ‘bubbly’ self.
Sub Lt Brown said the cadet knocked into a table or chair while staggering around a pub and was later ‘intercepted’ by Lt Christie who took her to his hotel when a sailor was escorting her back to her accommodation.
The court previously heard the woman said she woke up ‘confused and drunk’ in his room.
The officer cadet recalled how she drifted in and out of sleep but was alarmed to discover she was naked so covered herself with bed sheets.
She said: ‘I was confused, drunk and not aware of where I was.
‘He came out of the bathroom, he walked over to me, crawled up on the bottom of the bed, climbed on top of me and continued up.
‘It got to the point where he was positioned right in front of my head and his knees were beside my shoulders, I couldn’t move myself up.
‘I was almost in shock. Because of the drink I was not fully aware of what was going on.’
She added: ‘[When I woke up again] he said I was all over him and that I had been asking for it. I was just confused.’
The woman told how she woke up confused in Christie’s hotel bed for a second time just weeks later, having been ‘extremely drunk’ the night before.
She told the hearing how she tried to leave the bed after realising Christie was behind her. She claims she was ‘pinned down,’ and unable to move during the alleged incident.
The court martial continues.
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