via UK: Zim soldier charged with sex assault – New Zimbabwe 25/03/2015
A court heard that Private Taaziva Mutekedza, 37, entered the woman’s room, took his jeans off and climbed into her single bed after a night out
A SOLDIER in the British Army sexually assaulted two female colleagues, creeping into bed with one and licking her nipple as she slept, a court martial heard Wednesday.
Private Taaziva Mutekedza, 37, allegedly entered the woman’s room, took his jeans off and climbed into her single bed after a night out.
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was naked and felt “angry” and ‘scared’ when she woke to find Mutekedza on top of her.
She pushed him away and told him to “get off’ but he then tried to calm her down by saying “it’s OK” and offered her a cigarette to help her relax, the court heard.
Bulford Military Court Centre in Wiltshire heard the alleged incident took place in October 2013 at the New Normandy Barracks in Aldershot, Hants, after Mutekedza had been drinking in the town until 2am.
Opening the case, Commander Caroline Kenyon, prosecuting, told the court Mutekedza denies two charges of sexual assault against two separate female soldiers.
On the other occasion, Mutekedza is accused of knocking on a woman’s door in the early hours of the morning, pulling her head towards him and asking her why she was not “going to give him a cuddle”.
Detailing the first alleged offence, Cdr Kenyon told the court: “In the early hours of the morning the woman returned alone to her room.
“She took her clothes off and fell asleep naked; she did not lock her door as she felt safe.
“She was sleeping in a single bed but she awoke to find the defendant on top of her wearing boxer shorts.
“The defendant was licking her right breast and was feeling her naked body with his hands. He said: ‘It’s fine’.
“She challenged him but the defendant told her she returned to her room with him.
“She denied this and felt upset and scared. She told him to get out of her room and he eventually did.”
The woman, who was in her early twenties at the time, told the court she felt “shocked” and “angry”.
She said: “The night before the incident I went out into Aldershot for a few drinks and did not return until the early hours of the morning.
“Private Mutekedza was out but he was not out with us.
“I had had a lot to drink but I knew exactly what I was doing at the time and I arrived back at my room between 2 and 3am.
“I entered my room, shut my door and undressed down to nothing and was naked and I got into bed. I did not lock my door because I thought I was in a safe place.
“The lights were off and I went to sleep and I remember waking up with Private Mutekedza on top of me.
“He was wearing boxer shorts and socks. He was licking my right breast; he was using his tongue. He was feeling me with his hands; he was feeling my chest area.
“I was quite shocked to be honest. I pushed him off me and asked him what he was doing. He tried to say that he came back with me which I know he did not.
“He tried to calm me down, he tried to say ‘It’s OK’ and tried to get me to go out for a cigarette. I said it’s not OK and I was more concerned about getting him out of my room – I was angry.
“There was a pair of his jeans on my floor. I had to ask him to leave several times; he was in my room for five minutes.”
She reported the incident and was later interviewed by the service police.
The defence suggest she invited Private Mutekedza back to her room to have a drink after sharing a taxi home from the Yates’s pub in Aldershot.
She says this is not true.
Mutekedza is accused of sexually assaulting a second young female soldier in the early hours in January, 2014.
Cdr Kenyon added: “A woman heard a knock on her door in New Normandy Barracks and the defendant was outside and appeared drunk.
“He said words of this affect ‘You know I really like you’.
“He grabbed her hand and she tried to close the door but the defendant blocked her doorway and pulled his hand back when it was on the back of her head.
“The defendant said ‘why are you not going to give me a cuddle?’
“He tried to pull her head towards him and she told him to go away.
“He left and again said ‘you know I really like you’.”
Private Mutekedza, of 22 Field Hospital, based at the New Normandy Barracks, denies two counts of sexual assault.
The Zimbabwe national was a combat medical technician at the time of the alleged first incident.
The trial continues.
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