A 6ft 6ins-tall British Army soldier who picked up a 17-year-old female comrade in a ‘bear hug’ and pinned her to a fence as he repeatedly tried to kiss her has been convicted of sexual assault.
Signaller Ryan Pell subjected the frightened 17-year-old to a ‘never-ending’ ordeal, refusing to take no for an answer and continually ignoring her pleas for him to stop.
The 26-year-old military communications engineer horrified his 5ft 4ins victim by pinning her against a fence, pushing her onto the floor and straddling her.
The teenager told Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, she felt ‘vulnerable and scared’, and was worried nobody would believe her if she told them.
Sig Pell denied he had done any of these things, while also claiming that one of the eight pints he drank that night had been spiked.
However, he has now been convicted of three counts of sexual assault.
Signaller Ryan Pell, 26, grabbed and trapped the 17-year-old’s arms in a ‘bear hug’. Despite her pleas for him to stop, he repeatedly tried to kiss her on the neck
Pell outside Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, where has been convicted on three counts of sexual assault. He had claimed that his drink had been spiked
His trial was told the incident happened late one evening at Blandford Camp, Dorset, last year when Sig Pell, of 10th Signal Regiment, returned from a local pub with some of his colleagues.
The female soldier, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had stayed at camp and met with friends afterwards, but got into an argument with a fellow soldier.
Sig Pell, who works as a Network Engineer, noticed she was upset and suggested they ‘go for a walk and talk about it’.
His victim told the court: ‘[He] was acting like he had had a few to drink. [He was] stumbling a little bit and had slurred speech but he was not extremely intoxicated.’
During the walk, she said Sig Pell tried to kiss her and she asked him to stop at which point he said sorry.
After that, Sig Pell sat down on a circular picnic bench and asked her to sit with him.
‘I told him I didn’t want to sit down. He told me I should just sit down next to him and then he grabbed me by my joggers to sit close to him.
‘I started to walk away. He came up behind me and grabbed me from behind.
‘He grabbed me, trapping both of my arms in a bear hug.’
He admitted to the court that he had put his hands on the female soldier’s waist but denied three counts of sexual assault. He will be sentenced at Bulford Military Centre later this month
Giving evidence, the teenager told the court she ‘couldn’t get out’ and Sig Pell repeatedly tried to kiss her neck.
He eventually put her down but she lost balance and he then pushed her to the floor, allegedly pinning her down and straddling her so she could not move.
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She told the trial: ‘I got very angry with him. I shouted at him but he was not listening to me.
‘I was pretty scared. I had never been in that position before and I just did not know what was going to happen.’
The 17-year-old managed to escape his grip and began walking to her accommodation but he chased after her.
She added: ‘Sig Pell started running up behind me. He grabbed me and pinned me against the fence.
‘He grabbed me and put one hand on my lower back and one on the top of my back.
‘He said something along the lines of ‘now the fence is working in my favour’. His body was pressed against the back of mine.
‘He tried to move his hand around to rub the inside of my leg.’
The female soldier said he continued to try to kiss her, and she shouted at him to leave her alone.
She added: ‘I felt like I was unable to get out of the situation, I felt like it was never-ending.’
After Sig Pell released her, he followed her back to her accommodation and sat on her bed.
She said: ‘I asked him to leave multiple times, eventually he did.’
The teenager told friends what had happened and reported it to her superiors.
She told the hearing: ‘Being 17, when something like this happened I didn’t really believe that anyone would tell me if I told them.’
Captain Camilla Gane, prosecuting, told the court martial: ‘[Signaller Pell] knew she was vulnerable in that moment.
‘[She] said no and that should have been the end of it.
‘Instead he tried again and he did not take no for an answer.
‘At no point did [she] give any sort of consent.’
Sig Pell conceded he had put his hands on the female soldier’s waist but denied three counts of sexual assault. He was found guilty of all three charges.
The soldier will be sentenced at Bulford Military Centre later this month.
