Vincentian sentenced to seven years for rape, dismissed from Royal Navy

A Vincentian national, who was an engineer in the Royal Navy, has been jailed for seven years after being convicted of raping a male colleague.

A three-day trial at the Bulford Military Court heard how Able Seaman Troy Glasgow took “opportunistic advantage” of his colleague, a sailor, who was woken by an “excruciating pain” after being raped in an accommodation block at a naval base overseas.

According to reports in the UK press, AB Glasgow and the man had earlier been drinking beer at a Navy barbecue event while stationed abroad. The pair lived in the same accommodation block, and walked home together after last orders at around 10.30pm. The victim invited AB Glasgow back to his room to continue drinking.

After drinking vodka and listening to music, the court heard that the sailor had a video call with a woman he was “getting to know” while AB Glasgow was still in the room. Later, while the male sailor was still on his phone, AB Glasgow fell asleep on the bed. After falling asleep himself, the sailor, who is heterosexual, woke in the early hours of the morning to horrific pain.

When he realised what was happening, the sailor reacted in “pure rage”, swinging at AB Glasgow with a vodka bottle before shouting “get out” and pulling a knife from his multi-tool before being restrained by crew mates, the court heard. The sailor then jumped off a nearby jetty into the sea because he “felt dirty”.

He said in a victim impact statement: ‘This incident has severely impacted my mental health and have had mental health problems brought on as a direct result of the incident. I feel like I have been stuck living in a nightmare. Without my medication I am unable to sleep. I wake up in the night visibly shaking and start crying for no reason”.

The court heard that the victim suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, takes anti-depressants daily and suffers panic attacks. The court heard that the victim avoids seeing his parents and daughter as he feels like he has ‘let them down’.

Sentencing Judge Advocate Alistair McGrigor, said the assault had had a ‘devastating impact’ on the victim’s mental health.

Glasgow, who had initially denied the rape charge, has been jailed, dismissed with “disgrace” and also placed on the sex offenders list.

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