Nuclear Submarine Commander Charged with Drug-Fueled Assault on Young Sailor Who Awoke in Distress

A DISGRACED nuclear submarine commander is facing jail for drug-fuelled sexual assault on a subordinate.

, 46, was convicted of sexual assault, false imprisonment and possession of cocaine at a court martial in Catterick on Friday.

An ex-submarine commander is facing jail for sexual assault Credit: Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander John Cursiter, 46 Credit: Glen Minikin

He plied his victim with booze and cocaine before luring him back to his bedroom in the officer’s mess at HMNB Devonport.

The terrified victim told the martial that he woke up in horror in the officer’s bed.

Cursiter then refused to allow the junior submariner to leave.

When the sailor eventually fled he let out a “howling cry” and told telling a member of staff on base: “I think I have been raped”.

A court martial board at Catterick Military Court in , found Cursiter, of Balloch, Dunbartonshire, guilty of sexual assault, false imprisonment and possession of cocaine, which was found in his coat pocket on his arrest.

He was marched off his permanent base at Faslane on the Clyde – the home of Britain’s nuclear submarine unit – in disgrace by Royal Military Police.

Cursiter, a former deputy commander of the nuclear-armed sub , quit the navy after his arrest.

When news of the police action was broken by The Sun, a second former Royal Navy rating came forward to say he too had been sexually assaulted by Cursiter after a night of heavy drinking near Faslane in 2013.

Cursiter denied the offences ever happened and was cleared of three counts of sexual assault against the second complainant by the court martial board.

He will be sentenced for the 2022 incidents in July and faces up to six months in prison for his crimes, which were described as a “breach of trust” in his position as a senior officer.

The sexual assaults followed a night out in Plymouth involving officers and submariners

The sailor, who has since left the Navy, told the court: “I am a straight guy, I have been with my partner for many years and I had only ever spoken to John Cursiter on that day.

“To wake up in his bed made me think I did not trust him. I woke up in boxers, socks and a T-shirt, everything just did not line up.”

At first Cursiter prevented him from leaving the room when he tried to leave, holding him by his hand and telling him: “You’re off work today.”

But when he did leave the room, the younger man said his head only cleared as he got out into the parade square and he suspected he had been given drugs, which was later confirmed in toxicology tests.

He told a cleaner at the base: “I think I have been raped.”

The complainant told the court of his fears about being drummed out of the navy if drugs were found in his system.

He said: “I knew if he had given it to me in a drink it would be in my system, but I have no memory of how it would have happened.

“The Navy was my first option, my second and last option, it was all I had thought about since I was a child. I have never taken drugs in my life.”

After the matter was reported to the military police Cursiter was arrested and a packet containing the remnants of cocaine were found in his coat pocket. His DNA was also found in his alleged victim’s underwear.

A cleaner in the junior ratings mess at encountered the young submariner in a kitchen after he’d left Cursiter’s quarters – describing how he let out a “horrific howl” and was contemplating hanging himself.

In a statement, Kerry White said: “He looked really rough, he walked over and slumped in a chair. He was completely zoned out as if he was processing something in his head.

“He was slumped and crying, his eyes were streaming and red raw.

“He said ‘I think I have been raped.’ He kept saying ‘He would not let me go.’

“He told me not to go into his room as he would be hanging. I kept telling him not to say that as it was worrying me.

“He was repeating ‘I don’t know what happened, I don’t know what happened’ and said ‘I’m meant to be a man.’ He was crying about his girlfriend and said several times ‘I am not gay.’

He asked another member of staff: “Have you ever known a man to be violated? I think I was raped.”

Ms White added: “He let out a horrific howling cry as he entered his room.”

The complainant in the alleged attack in 2013 told the court martial: “I felt violated. I was confused, disgusted, embarrassed and ashamed. I was trying to understand what happened and why it happened to me.

“I knew he was gay, everyone on board knew he was gay and no one cared. I am not gay and I wanted to know why he would hit on me when he knew I was straight.”

However the Board accepted Cursiter’s case that no sexual assault took place and he was cleared of offences relating to the 2013 incident.

Cursiter, who denied all six offences, was given bail until his sentencing.