A Royal Navy engineer has been convicted of sexually assaulting a female sailor by groping her backside while she was walking up a ladder.

In his defence at Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire, Able Seaman Daniel Goffey, 25, told the court the alleged kissing was not sexual as he ‘knew she was a lesbian’ and he acted in a ‘gentlemanly way’.

He admitted during the three day trial he could be ‘very confident’ once he had drunk alcohol but insisted he didn’t grope the sailor.

The victim tried to slap away Goffey’s hands as he ‘sniggered’ while trying to grab her from behind.

The incident happened on board the £3.1 billion aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales after an on board barbecue which involved alcohol consumption.

The court heard how there were a number of parties on board the ship following the barbecue.

Goffey arrived at the victim’s mess room – a room where sailors eat and socialise – because he had ‘run out of booze’ and tried to persuade her to go to one of the parties.

Others tried to draw Goffey away from the victim to another room which involved the group walking up the ladder.

It was at this point he groped his victim.

Giving evidence, she said: ‘We all went up single-file. I felt two hands on either side of my butt-cheeks for about two seconds.

‘I turned around to push him away and he just sniggered. I slapped his hands away.’

Goffey denied touching the woman’s rear while walking up the ladder because he argued he would not have been able to balance himself while drunk.

He said: ‘You have to grab the handrails to go up those ladders. Everyone was drunk so you would definitely have needed to grab the handles..’

Despite this, Goffey will be convicted for sexual assault at a later date.

He was cleared of two other counts of sexual assault which involved accusations he had touched another female sailor’s backside and started kissing her.

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