A British Army Officer Cadet ‘forcefully’ sexually assaulted two female trainees while sharing a bed with them on a Sandhurst training course.
Officer cadet Max Gibbins, who is Cambridge-educated, was with group of trainees at the Lake District, Cumbria, undertaking adventurous training when the abuse of the woman – both in their 20s – happened.
Two male cadets including Gibbons and two female cadets were sharing an Airbnb bed after they ‘had been out drinking’.
The 26-year-old groped one of the female cadets by ‘forcefully grabbing her breast and putting her hand down towards his pelvis’ as she slept.
She then leapt out of the bed and fled as the other male cadet followed her.
Gibbons then sexually assaulted the other woman as ‘he pulled her in for a kiss before placing his hand between her legs and forcefully rubbing his hand over her underwear’.
As a result of his behaviour he left Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, which is responsible for training the British Army’s officers, a week before he was due to graduate as an officer.
At Bulford Military Court, Gibbins – who was supported by his girlfriend and parents – escaped jail and was handed a suspended sentence after admitting two charges of sexual assault.
Max Gibbins, 27, escaped jail and was handed a suspended sentence after admitting two charges of sexual assault.
At Bulford Military Court, Gibbins was sentenced to a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years
As a result of his behaviour he left Sandhurst Royal Military Academy a week before he was due to graduate as an officer
Barrister Rupert Gregory, prosecuting, said: ‘A number of them were staying in an Airbnb, they had been out drinking.
‘In this room were four officer cadets sharing a bed – this defendant, another male officer cadet, and then two females, the two victims of this sexual assault.
‘[One victim] fell asleep with this defendant next to her, she woke up to him forcefully grabbing her breast and putting her hand down towards his pelvis.
‘She leapt out of bed and ran into the next room and then slept on the floor in that room.’
The other male followed her, it was heard.
‘That left this defendant and [the second victim] in the bed’, Mr Gregory said.
‘As she was laying in the bed, he pulled her in for a kiss before placing his hand between her legs and forcefully rubbing his hand over her underwear.
‘She was repeatedly begging him to stop. She left the room and went to see [the first victim] in the next room and she told her ‘he’s just tried to have sex with me, I tried to tell him to stop but he would not’.
‘He was then asked to leave the property.’
Mr Gregory said there was an ‘abuse of trust’.
‘The victims had a reasonable expectation that they could trust the defendant not to sexually assault them,’ he said.
‘I would suggest that because they were Officer Cadets at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, these higher standards were to be observed.
‘The victims were particularly vulnerable* they were in bed.. [One] was asleep at the time and that in my submission is vulnerability – a woman in bed is clearly vulnerable.’
In a Royal Military Police interview, Gibbins – who studied physics at Cambridge University before joining the Army – said he ‘does not remember anything happening’ with the first victim and claimed he had a ‘consensual’ kiss with the second and ‘stopped as soon as she said to’.
He claimed he pulled the second victim in for a cuddle because she said ‘save me’.
In her victim impact statement, the first victim said she felt like she didn’t want to be at Sandhurst due to Gibbins being there and felt like a ‘caged bird’.
She added: ‘I distanced myself from speaking to my family. I’m embarrassed about what has happened.
‘I don’t want them to see me as a victim of sexual assault. I don’t call them as much.’
She also said while she was at Sandhurst she actively chose to avoid ‘socials’ and that she has been put off visiting the Lake District with her partner.
The second victim, in her statement, said the attack has left her ‘anxious’.
She said: ‘It’s given me physical anxiety and sickness.
‘I would see him around [Sandhurst] and I would freeze. It’s made me less confident, I’m less self-assured.
‘Because it’s such a violation, it sort of trips you up and sweeps the rug from under your feet. It’s taken me a while to build myself up again.’
The second victim also said she has since suffered panic attacks while being intimate with her own partner.
Barrister Matthew Bolt, defending, said Gibbins is ‘profoundly sorry’.
He said: ‘This was an unedifying incident, an unpleasant incident, but one that was a short incident.
‘It will define officer cadet Gibbins’ life, perhaps forever.
‘He deeply regrets what he did in those couple of minutes. He readily understands that there’s a much greater need to vocalise consent.
‘He’s stopped drinking, completely, and both he and his partner who sits in court with his parents to support him have taken a very mature approach.
‘They have taken relationship counselling, they are staying together. She knows what she’s getting herself into and she’s chosen to stand by it.’
Assistant Judge Advocate General Jane England told him: ‘Time at Sandhurst is intended to develop people as a person and as leaders.
‘Much stock is put in the comradeship formed. Lifelong friendships can and do develop. Your actions that night drove a coach and horses through those bonds of friendship.
‘Both had every reason to trust you and both of them had every right for you to treat them with respect, and you did not.
‘Both victims have been affected by what you did and both had their time at Sandhurst impacted by you.’
In a character witness statement, Gibbins’ partner – whose name was not given to the court – said he has ‘reflected upon his behaviour’ and she has ‘seen him mature and become more self-aware in his interactions with others’.
Assistant Judge Advocate General England sentenced Gibbins to a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
He must also pay each of his victims £1,000, do 220 hours of unpaid work, attend 10 rehab days, and sign the sex offender’s register for seven years.
Judge England said: ‘These are serious offences committed against fellow officer cadets.’
