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Officer Cadet Max Gibbins ‘forcefully’ sexually assaulted two female trainees at Sandhurst while they were away on ‘adventurous training’ in the Lake District, a court martial heard

A Cambridge-educated British Army Officer Cadet ‘forcefully’ sexually assaulted two female trainees on a Sandhurst training course, a court martial heard.

Officer Cadet Max Gibbins was accused of ‘driving a coach and horses’ through the bonds of camaraderie formed at the prestigious military academy with his abuse of the recruits while sharing a bed with them. The group of trainees were away from Sandhurst on ‘adventurous training’ in the Lake District when he molested them in an Airbnb bed they were sharing, a military court was told.

The 26 year old groped one female cadet as she slept – then when she leapt out of bed horrified and fled, he ‘violated’ the other. As a result of his behaviour, he left the world-famous academy – attended by both Princes William and Harry – a week before he was due to graduate as an officer.

At Bulford Military Court, Wilts, OCdt Gibbins – who was supported by his girlfriend and parents – escaped jail and was handed a suspended sentence. Assistant Judge Advocate General Jane England told him: “Time at Sandhurst is intended to develop people as a person and as leaders. Much stock is put in the comradeship formed. Lifelong friendships can and do develop. Your actions that night drove a coach and horses through those bonds of friendship.

“Both had every reason to trust you and both of them had every right for you to treat them with respect, and you did not. Both victims have been affected by what you did and both had their time at Sandhurst impacted by you.”

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst is responsible for training the British Army’s officers but in recent years the Berkshire institution has been rocked by sex abuse scandals. Barrister Rupert Gregory, prosecuting, told the court a group of officer cadets were at the Lake District, Cumbria, undertaking adventurous training when the abuse of the women – both in their 20s – happened.

“A number of them were staying in an Airbnb, they had been out drinking”, Mr Gregory said. “In this room were four officer cadets sharing a bed – this defendant, another male officer cadet, and then two females, the two victims of this sexual assault.

“[One victim] fell asleep with this defendant next to her, she woke up to him forcefully grabbing her breast and putting her hand down towards his pelvis. She leapt out of bed and ran into the next room and then slept on the floor in that room.” The other male followed her, it was heard.

“That left this defendant and [the second victim] in the bed”, Mr Gregory said. “As she was laying in the bed, he pulled her in for a kiss before placing his hand between her legs and forcefully rubbing his hand over her underwear. She was repeatedly begging him to stop.

“She left the room and went to see [the first victim] in the next room and she told her ‘he’s just tried to have sex with me, I tried to tell him to stop but he would not’. He was then asked to leave the property.” Mr Gregory said there was an ‘abuse of trust’. The victims had a reasonable expectation that they could trust the defendant not to sexually assault them,” he said.

“I would suggest that because they were officer cadets at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, these higher standards were to be observed. The victims were particularly vulnerable… they were in bed. [One] was asleep at the time and that in my submission is vulnerability – a woman in bed is clearly vulnerable.”

In a Royal Military Police interview, OCdt Gibbins – who studied physics at Cambridge University before joining the Army – said he ‘does not remember anything happening’ with the first victim and claimed he had a ‘consensual’ kiss with the second and ‘stopped as soon as she said to’. He claimed he pulled the second victim in for a cuddle because she said ‘save me’.

In her victim impact statement, the first victim said she felt like she didn’t want to be at Sandhurst due to OCdt Gibbins being there and felt like a ‘caged bird’. She added: “I distanced myself from speaking to my family. I’m embarrassed about what has happened.. I don’t want them to see me as a victim of sexual assault. I don’t call them as much.”

She also said while she was at Sandhurst she actively chose to avoid ‘socials’ and that she has been put off visiting the Lake District with her partner. The second victim, in her statement, said the attack has left her ‘anxious’. She said: “It’s given me physical anxiety and sickness… I would see him around [Sandhurst] and I would freeze. It’s made me less confident, I’m less self-assured. Because it’s such a violation, it sort of trips you up and sweeps the rug from under your feet. It’s taken me a while to build myself up again.”

The second victim also said she has since suffered panic attacks while being intimate with her own partner. At the court martial, OCdt Gibbins admitted two charges of sexual assault. Barrister Matthew Bolt, defending, said OCdt Gibbins is ‘profoundly sorry’. “This was an unedifying incident, an unpleasant incident, but one that was a short incident.

“It will define OCdt Gibbins’ life, perhaps forever. He deeply regrets what he did in those couple of minutes. He readily understands that there’s a much greater need to vocalise consent. He’s stopped drinking, completely, and both he and his partner who sits in court with his parents to support him have taken a very mature approach.

“They have taken relationship counselling, they are staying together. She knows what she’s getting herself into and she’s chosen to stand by it.” In a character witness statement, OCdt Gibbins’ partner – whose name was not given to the court – said he has ‘reflected upon his behaviour’ and she has ‘seen him mature and become more self-aware in his interactions with others’.

Assistant Judge Advocate General England sentenced OCdt Gibbins to a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He must also pay each of his victims £1,000, do 220 hours of unpaid work, attend 10 rehab days, and sign the sex offender’s register for seven years. Judge England said: “These are serious offences committed against fellow officer cadets.”

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