Royal Navy officer sexually assaulted female colleague at Airbnb while she was passed out on ‘girls’ holiday’, court told

A Royal Navy officer sexually assaulted a female colleague at an Airbnb after a night out on a girls’ holiday, a court-martial has heard.

Lieutenant Liam Humphries is said to have ‘taken full advantage’ of the drunken sailor while the £3.5 billion aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales was docked in Florida.

After meeting the sailor at a Daytona Beach nightclub, Lt. Humphries is accused of abusing her while she passed out in an apartment she rented with friends.

The sailor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she had no memory of leaving the nightclub and told the court-martial that Lieutenant Humphries had abused her “at my most vulnerable point”.

Lt Humphries was reported to naval bosses when the sailor returned to HMS Prince of Wales. Bulford Military Court, in Wiltshire, heard the incident occurred as the 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier was traveling to the US.

The ship – one of the most advanced warships in the world – became the flagship of the Royal Navy this week, taking over from sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth.

At Bulford Military Court, Lieutenant Humphries denied one charge of sexual assault by penetration and claimed the encounter was consensual.

Opening the case, prosecutor Colonel Jim Carmichael said the female sailor could not have consented because she was unconscious.

HMS Prince of Wales – one of the most advanced warships in the world – became the flagship of the Royal Navy this week, taking over from sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Colonel Carmichael said: ‘[The victim] served on board HMS Prince of Wales, also on board was Lieutenant Humphries, he was an education officer.

‘The Prince of Wales docked in Florida, [the victim] decided to have a girls’ vacation in Daytona Beach with her friends, also present [in the city] were approximately 20 to 30 male officers.

‘[The victim] and her friends had some pizza and drinks, they headed to downtown Daytona Beach for a night out.

‘Towards the end of the night she went to the nightclub toilet, she can’t remember anything between then and waking up in her AirBnB.

‘The first thing she remembers is waking up in bed with the defendant [performing sexual activity on her]…she had not consented to this.’

He continued, “In a text conversation [the victim] confronted the suspect about what had happened the previous night.”

When the suspect was interviewed under caution, he was asked about the sexual activity and said he had done so but was under the impression she had consented.

He went on to say he held her hair back while she vomited, the court martial heard.

‘She [then] got upset about her ex-boyfriend and left the room.”

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales arrives at Glenmallen on Loch Long, Argyll and Bute, on 22 November

At Bulford Military Court, Lieutenant Humphries denied one charge of sexual assault by penetration and claimed the encounter was consensual.

“The defense is…she agreed to this. The issue in this case is simple: she could not have consented because she was unconscious at the time.”

The sailor told her friends the next day she thought she had received a jab, although a test at a Florida clinic came back negative, the court heard.

When the sailors returned to HMS Prince of Wales, they immediately reported the incident to the police officer on board.

The female sailor said she was ‘vulnerable’ and that Lieutenant Humphries ‘took advantage’ of her in a video interview shown to the court-martial.

In a police interview she said: ‘I didn’t feel like myself.

‘I thought, I just want this to be over, I don’t want this to happen to me.

‘He took full advantage of me when I fainted.

‘I didn’t think this would ever happen to me.

‘He took advantage of me at my most vulnerable point.’

HMS Prince Of Wales is one of the Royal Navy’s most prestigious ships and is home to over 1,500 men and up to 48 stealth fighter jets.

The trial, expected to last a week, continues.