Soldier Acquitted of Sexual Assault by Court-Martial Jury - 2023

Our client was accused of committing sexual assault on a person whom he had consensual sexual intercourse with. The accused, a soldier, invited a woman home to the barracks where they engaged in consensual intercourse. One hour later following the intercourse, the soldier allegedly assaulted the female by placing his unclothed leg and crotch area on top of her whilst she was asleep. The female alleged that as she was asleep, she was incapable of consenting to this unclothed touching. The prosecution would have had to prove that sexual assault occurred under Section 3(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, pertaining that the sexual contact was not consensual. The client denied that this was sexual assault, arguing that the events that occurred were natural following consensual intercourse.

Whilst the facts render the case seemingly contradictory, sexual assault cases are taken incredibly seriously and so the matter was taken to trial. The court-martial considered the case in-depth and ultimately agreed with our defence that the consensual intercourse one hour prior rendered the following event permissible. Our defence, therefore, successfully argued that the closeness in time of the two events rendered the second event a non-assault.