Royal Navy officer convicted of battery after dragging chef into bar after she refused to do shots

A Royal Navy officer who dragged a female chef 20 yards by her wrists into a warship’s bar after she refused to do shots with him in an ‘alcohol and adrenaline fuelled joyride’ has been convicted of battery.  

Chief Petty Officer William Smith was found guilty of grabbing Chantel Warner and pulling her along after pestering her to have a celebratory drink when England made it to their first European Champions finals in more than 50 years.

CPO Smith made repeated requests for the chef to join him on one of the Navy’s state-of-the-art destroyers after England beat Denmark in the Euros semi-final, a court martial heard. 

Chef Warner was alone as she was setting up for breakfast in July last year on HMS Diamond – a type-45 missile guided destroyer – when CPO Smith, a warfare specialist, entered the room around 7.40am.

He told her it was his 36th anniversary in the Navy and was in a good mood after the England game, Bulford Military Court was told. 

Chef Warner told the court she was ‘scared’ after the incident during which she said she was dragged 21 yards.

She said: ‘He seemed drunk because his eyes were all red, he was slurring his words and he was a bit unsteady on his feet.

‘He asked me a couple of times. I said ‘no’ and he said he was not going to take no for an answer.

‘He grabbed my left wrist and dragged me into the senior rates mess.. It was not a tight grip but I could not release myself from it. I tried to say no but he carried on.’

Major James Eveleigh, prosecuting, said: ‘He invited chef Warner to celebrate by having some shots. She refused and he then repeatedly asked her to come celebrate with him and break off her duty to come and drink alcohol.

‘The defendant refused to take no for an answer and grabbed her by the wrist and proceeded to pull her out.

‘They went a little way to the deck and into the senior ranks bar while she made efforts to draw her hands away and made it clear verbally that she did not want to be there.

‘He only released her when they got the bar. She ran out the bar to go back to her work.’

The incident happened on the HMS Diamond – a type-45 missile guided destroyer – last July

CPO William Smith, pictured above outside Bulford Military Court, dragged a female chef 20 yards in an ‘alcohol fuelled joyride’

CPO Smith told the court he had a lot to celebrate that morning, including finding out his mother had been given the all clear after being diagnosed with skin cancer and that England were through to a major final for the first time in over 50 years.

In a speech to the board, Major Eveleigh described the battery as an ‘alcohol fuelled and adrenaline-fuelled joyride,’ after CPO Smith had been drinking as he watched the game the night before.

He added: ‘CPO Smith was effectively still drunk; he was in a good mood. England were through to the Euro final, his wife had received an offer of employment, his mother was no longer ill.

‘At this time, he wanted somebody to share his good humour and Chef Warner was there. When she did not want to have a drink – when she refused – it did not fit and he decided he would not take no for an answer.

‘What we have here is an alcohol-fuelled – admittedly rather muted – adrenaline-fuelled joyride.’

 CPO Smith was found guilty and will be sentenced at a later date.