Afghan veterans at Catterick Garrison jailed and sacked

Afghanistan veterans Lance Sergeant Antony Pugh, 36, and Sergeant Connor Forgan, 32, boasted to each other about their sexual relations with the 17-year-old trainee and referred to her in “misogynistic” ways, a court martial heard.

Both formed sexual relationships with the recruit, when they were instructors at the Infantry Training Centre (ITC) in Catterick, North Yorkshire.

Passing sentence, Assistant Judge Advocate General Jane England said: “There were rules in place at ITC Catterick to protect both trainees and instructors.

“Both in your own way preyed upon a vulnerable young recruit, a child.

“As instructors you were well aware of where the line was, and you both willingly stepped over that line for your own sexual interests.”

Pugh was jailed for 20 months, and Forgan for 16 months. Both were reduced to the ranks, dismissed from the Army and will be on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Each defendant denied a charge of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust but were convicted by a court martial board following a trial last year.

The court heard that Pugh, who served with the Grenadier Guards, and Forgan, who served with the Welsh Guards, were both veterans of the conflict in Afghanistan.

Commander Edward Hannah, prosecuting, told the court of the recruit: “She has chosen not to provide a victim personal statement, and she wishes to move on from these matters.”

She cannot be named for legal reasons.

Cmdr Hannah said both defendants had shown degrees of planning in committing the offences and that they were in positions of trust owing to their rank.

“The hierarchal structure of the military places power with rank, especially in a training facility,” he said.

The court heard that after having sex with Pugh, the recruit had to take STD and pregnancy tests, and also suffered an internal injury during the encounter.

Pugh and Forgan also shared lewd messages about the teenager after sleeping with her.

“The messages between the defendants were degrading and demeaning,” Cmdr Hannah said.

Rachel Beckett, defending Pugh, said: “He is in a relationship with his partner of eight years, and she supports him in court today.

“He has two children and the family live in service accommodation which will be lost with dismissal.

“Dismissal itself will have a significant impact, not only on L/Sgt Pugh but his dependant family.”

Beverley Cripps, defending Forgan, said he had accepted the messages he exchanged with Pugh were “disgraceful and crass”.

“In the references to the court he is somebody who is seen to have a good career in front of him and is someone who led by example,” she said.

“I would ask you to take into account his quite impressive service history.”

Assistant Judge Advocate General Jane England said fraternisation was forbidden between instructors and recruits, but the defendants had engaged in unprofessional and sexual communication.

Referring to the messages the defendants shared, the judge said: “You both referred to her in a disgraceful, indecent and misogynistic manner.

“She was a 17-year-old child and she was not deserving of that.”

She said: “Power imbalance is exacerbated within the services, and service personnel are taught to follow the orders of those senior to them.

“In an instructional environment such as this, instructors set the tone for the rest of the recruit’s career.

“Instructors are looked upon as role models, mentors and their importance is very often elevated in the mind as well.

“As far as they are concerned, instructors also hold the careers of the recruits in their hands as part of the decision-making process as to whether a recruit makes the grade or not comes from the instructors.

“For these reasons, we do consider that the abuse of trust is greater in our forces than it is in many other situations.”