Royal Navy submariner cleared of raping woman

A Royal Navy submariner has been cleared at court martial of the rape of a woman after he told the hearing the allegations were "total lies".

Petty Officer Stuart Glassford, currently posted to the nuclear submarine HMS Victorious, denied the allegation which was claimed to have happened on his second night ashore after three months on deployment on a submarine in October 2015.

The 34-year-old, from Dumbarton, told the trial at Portsmouth Naval Base: "It's just ridiculous, it's not true. I am not the type of person to take violence or anger out on anyone, let alone a woman."

Mr Glassford, who is originally from Glasgow, added that he was known for his "boring sex life" and had the nickname "Missionary Killick", with killick referring to Navy slang for a junior sailor.

Mr Glassford said the complainant had invited him to come to her place and he added: "There were no fights or arguments, there was no bust up."

He added that they had consensual sex until the complainant asked him to stop, which he did.

He said: "We were having consensual sex, she said she wanted to stop. I stopped. I laid down beside her and I asked her what was going on and she said 'Nothing, I just don't want to do it'."

He said that hearing the complainant's evidence had made him "feel sick" and added: "It's total lies, it's not true."

Describing the impact of the allegations on him, Mr Glassford said: "This is really serious to me, it's life threatening to me, it's led me to be on medication and to over-eat, I have taken to comfort eating and put on two stone."

A Royal Navy spokeswoman confirmed that Mr Glassford had been cleared of the single count of rape.