A female RAF Corporal has won a sex harassment case after a colleague molested her while she slept, despite a court martial clearing him of sexual assault.
In what is a highly unusual legal case, an employment tribunal ruled the servicewoman was the victim of the attack contrary to what a military court found.
The news comes as questions swirl around the effectiveness of court martials in dealing with sexual offences cases, with 80 per cent of rape charges tried by military courts ending without a conviction.
The 'outstanding' Corporal, who left the air force following the incident, is now in line to receive a huge payout after successfully suing the Ministry of Defence over it, having previously turned down a £15,750 compensation offer from the MoD.
The woman was molested in a hotel in Crete after a night out with colleagues (stock photo)
News of the scandal comes as the RAF's famed Red Arrows team face a major probe amid accusations of sexual abuse and bullying within its ranks. Red Arrows pictured in 2014
The tribunal heard that while she was stationed in Greek island Crete, the woman woke up following an RAF night out in her hotel room to find her male colleague abusing her.
At the hearing, the RAF accepted the attack had taken place but tried to defend themselves by arguing it didn't happen 'in the course of employment' as she was on a night out.
But the tribunal rejected that argument and ruled that the MoD was 'vicariously' liable for the incident.
Eighty per cent of rape cases tried in military courts end without a conviction, stats show
Eight out of 10 cases of rape brought before military courts end without a conviction, damning figures have shown.
Between 2019 and 2021, the service justice system heard 53 cases of rape - with just 11 ending in a guilty verdict.
Meanwhile, out of the 324 charges for all sexual offences brought to court martial during the same period of time, 141 convictions were secured - a 43 per cent conviction rate.
The Ministry of Defence figures, revealed recently by the Guardian, come as the armed forces faces a sexual abuse scandal within both the submarine service and the RAF's elite Red Arrows squadron.
News of the low conviction rates at court martial come after calls for the MoD to remove cases of rape and sexual assault from military courts.
The demand was from the former chairman of the Commons defence select committee chairman, Sarah Atherton.
The Tory MP, who has recently led an inquiry into women and the armed forces, wrote that conviction rates in military courts were 'four to six times lower than in civilian courts'.
The latest data by the Crown Prosecution Service, which is in charge of bringing cases to civilian courts, said conviction rates for rape charges stood at about 68 per cent - three times that of a military court.
John Healey, Labour's shadow defence secretary said his Conservative opposite number, Ben Wallace, appeared 'increasingly isolated' in refusing to accept reform was needed.
'Trying the most serious offences in civilian courts would help improve investigations and raise conviction rates,' Mr Healey told The Guardian.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: 'It is misleading to compare the civilian and military justice systems, because of the huge difference between the size of the UK population and the much smaller armed forces. A tiny variation in military case numbers hugely impacts on percentages.
'That being said, in the service justice system a far higher proportion of cases proceed to trial, and convictions secured in the service justice system are greater than those in the criminal justice system, when looking at them as a proportion of allegations made to the police.'
The rare case comes at a time when the armed forces in Britain are under intense scrutiny over sex assaults - with the RAF's famed Red Arrows squadron embroiled in the scandal, which has seen a number of female personnel complaining of being molested.
The hearing in Leicester was told the Corporal - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - was an 'outstanding' and 'excellent' servicewoman, led a team of senior aircraftmen and woman, and was being eyed up for an important job.
While stationed in Crete, the Corporal and members of her squadron went out drinking.
A tribunal report said: 'The group drank cocktails at several bars during the day until the evening.
'Whilst some of them returned to the base in compliance with the curfew, about half of the group decided to stay overnight... and booked a hotel.
'They knew that this would be a breach of curfew. All of the group other than the [Corporal] were male.'
The report outlined the alleged incident, carried out by a colleague named only as 'Corporal F'.
It said: 'At some point in the night she woke up feeling sick. Cpl F, who was sleeping in the other room, came to check on her.
'After a few attempts of checking on her he guided her back to his room. She decided to sleep on the floor as it was cooler.
'Sometime later in the night Cpl F suggested that she might wish to get into his bed where it would be more comfortable.
'The Corporal did not suspect anything untoward because she knew him as a friend and trusted him. She got into Cpl F's bed with him and fell asleep on her front.
'Unaware of the time, she then describes waking up at some point in the night to discover Cpl F penetrating her she believes with his fingers.
'Having woken up to this, she says she was in shock did not move or try to leave. She says that Cpl F must have known what he was doing because when another member of the group who was in the next bed moved, Cpl F stopped.'
The Corporal left the room and was distressed the following morning.
The report added: 'One of her colleagues in the subsequent investigation said that Cpl F had said to him 'I tried to stick something in [her] last night'.'
It was heard that the initial investigation in Crete by RAF Police was poor as officers were 'unexperienced' and not used to that situation.
Officers 'were writing notes on a scrap of paper', didn't ask for her underwear or clothing, and the interview only lasted 15 minutes.
Her alleged attacker was later cleared of sexual assault at a court martial.
The Corporal experienced issues in being repatriated back to the UK, it was heard.
And she faced problems reporting her assault to the chain of command, later making a number of sex discrimination allegations about her boss, Squadron Leader Catherine Hall over how she was treated by the officer.
The Corporal had been off work sick following the distressing incident, and when she returned to work she wished to be relocated nearer her family however Sqn Ldr Hall said she wasn't in the right 'head space' for a move.
It was also heard Sqn Ldr Hall made insensitive comments, including: 'I don't understand why you don't want to work at [the squadron], the individual is no longer here, and it happened in a different country.'
The report added: 'Sqn Ldr Hall started the meeting by saying 'let's get the elephant out of the room' then going on to say that it was a 's**t situation' but 'don't let this define you as a person'.
'Sqn Ldr Hall said she had a friend who had been through 'the same situation' but on the opposite side where he was the one accused as being the perpetrator of a sexual assault.
'She said that the friend had in fact he had been falsely accused and that this had placed a significant toll on him.'
The RAF's famed Red Arrows have come under scrutiny amid accusations of sexual abuse and bullying within the unit (pictured flying at the Dawlish Airshow in 2014)
However, the tribunal ruled that her comments may have been 'crass and insensitive' but Sqn Ldr Hall did not discriminate the woman.
Despite winning a claim of sex harassment in relation to the assault, the Corporal lost multiple other claims including sex discrimination over allegations she made about how she was treated after the incident.
The tribunal panel concluded: 'The [MoD] accepts that there are areas where matters could have been handled better, particularly in relation to the RAF Police investigation.
'But those failings are not inherently evidence of less favourable treatment or matters from which an inference can or should be drawn of discrimination.
'There is nothing to suggest things would have handled things differently if she had been a man reporting a physical assault for example.
'There is no factual dispute that the sexual assault took place.
'The MoD denies liability solely on the grounds that it is not vicariously liable. We have proceeded on the basis that there is no dispute that her account of the incident occurred as she describes it.
'We have also found that the act occurred in the course of employment. This allegation is therefore upheld and the complaint of sexual harassment succeeds.'
The Corporal previously turned down an offer of £15,750 for compensation from the MoD. A hearing will take place in the future to determine compensation.
The hearing was told she was medically discharged some months after the alleged abuser was acquitted at a British court martial.
MailOnline has approached the MoD for comment.
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