Army Man Guilty of More Sex Attacks

An army recruitment sergeant who used his power to "abuse and bully'' women as young as 15 has been found guilty of three further counts of sexual assault.

Edwin Mee, 46, was convicted by majority verdict on three outstanding counts at London's Southwark Crown Court today, having been found guilty of a list of offences - including rape - by jurors yesterday.

The Glasgow-born defendant stared straight ahead as the foreman recorded guilty verdicts, but he shook his head silently as judge Alistair McCreath thanked jurors for their role in the trial.

He was remanded in custody yesterday after being convicted of 10 sexual assaults, two rapes and one count of assault by penetration.

His victims were young female cadets, mostly from abroad, but based in Croydon, south London. He was found not guilty of three counts of sexual assault.

Jurors were discharged after failing to reach a verdict in one count of rape and one of sexual assault, having spent more than 30 hours deliberating.

It means Mee has been convicted of 16 offences involving nine victims.

Mee, a divorced father of five who wore his white hair in a top-knot throughout the trial, carried out a campaign of sex attacks on women aged from 15 to their early twenties in 2010 and 2011.

He would stay late at the careers centre and conduct interviews with applicants out of hours to "deliberately'' target his victims.

Jurors convicted him today of three sexual assaults - including one of kissing a 15-year-old girl against her wishes, and another of slapping a woman's bottom as she was leaving an office.

The third conviction also related to kissing.

The trial heard that Mee asked a 16-year-old if she had body piercings and wanted to see the piercing in her tummy.

Later he slapped her bottom and, when she complained, told her: "It's you who needs the army.''

Another of his victims said she saw Mee as a father figure before he raped her.

Prosecutor Rosina Cottage said: "The implication is clear - put up or shut up.

"This is a pattern of bullying sexual behaviour that was repeated again and again to the female cadets to make them feel that he had power over them and control over their future.''

Mee disregarded normal army interview procedures to keep the complainants to himself and "gauge their vulnerability'', she said.

He would speak to them about sex, touch them and, in the most serious instance, commit rape, Ms Cottage said.

"A number of the complainants in this case were young black women, born outside the United Kingdom.

"Whether the defendant believed that this gave them a vulnerability in relation to their immigration status, or gave him an excuse to pretend that he had some power over them, the inference that the prosecution say can be drawn is that he deliberately targeted these young women.''

Mee denied all 21 charges against him. He is due to be sentenced on June 12.