Coldstream Guards soldier ‘grabbed a female Sergeant’s bottom after introducing himself to her at a bar as Vera Duckworth from Coronation Street’, court martial hears
- Peter Duckworth attended disco at Mount Pleasant base on the Falkland Islands
- He was allegedly spotted ‘lurking’ behind a female soldier on the dance floor
- 34-year-old ‘told victim he was nicknamed after Vera Duckworth due to surname’
- The Sergeant said she was ‘angry’ and wanted to ‘lamp him at time of incident
A Coldstream Guards soldier ‘grabbed a female Sergeant’s bottom after introducing himself to her at a bar as Vera Duckworth from Coronation Street’, a court martial has heard today.
Lance Sergeant Peter Duckworth attended a quiz night and disco at Mount Pleasant base on the Falkland Islands where he was allegedly spotted ‘lurking’ behind a female soldier while she was on the dance floor.
The 34-year-old ‘squeezed her bottom five times’ and ‘told the victim he was nicknamed after Vera Duckworth from the popular ITV soap as they share the same surname’, Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire heard.
The Sergeant said she was ‘angry’ and wanted to ‘lamp him’ as she repeatedly told Duckworth to ‘f**k off’ but he continued to sexually assault her.
Duckworth serves in the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, the oldest continuously serving regiment which is famed for its high-profile ceremonial duties involving the Royal Family.
The Coldstream Guards can be recognised by their iconic red tunics and bearskin caps as they stand guard outside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.
Lance Sergeant Peter Duckworth (pictured) attended a quiz night and disco at Mount Pleasant base on the Falkland Islands where he was allegedly spotted ‘lurking’ behind a female soldier while she was on the dance floor
The Coldstream Guards can be recognised by their iconic red tunics and bearskin caps as they stand guard outside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle (file image)
The 34-year-old ‘squeezed her bottom five times’ and ‘told the victim he was nicknamed after Vera Duckworth (pictured) from the popular ITV soap as they share the same surname’, Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire heard
Today, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Poulsom, prosecuting, said Duckworth – a senior soldier on the base – attended a corporals quiz at Mount Pleasant where he met the Sergeant, who can’t be named for legal reasons.
Lt Cdr Poulsom said: ‘While she was at the bar Lance Sergeant Duckworth introduced himself to her as Vera Duckworth and said as his name is Duckworth he gets called the nickname ‘Vera Duckworth’ after the Coronation Street character.
‘They continued to chat at the bar.
‘Later on she was on the dance floor and she felt someone grab and squeeze her bottom and she turned around and saw the defendant smiling at her.
‘She told him to f**k off. She told [a colleague] that someone touched and squeezed her bottom.
‘Later on, he squeezed it again a further three or four times.
‘[The victim] told her colleague that she had been touched again… She was very clear that the individual was Duckworth.
‘As the evening progressed and she continued to be sexually assaulted, she became angry and left the event and a formal complaint was made.’
Giving evidence, the Sergeant said Duckworth ‘stood out’ when he introduced himself because he gave his name as ‘Vera’ and because he had ‘crooked teeth’.
Pictured: Lance Sergeant Peter Duckworth at Bulford Military Court Centre today
The soldier said she had around five cans of Grolsch lager over the course of the night but was not drunk.
She said: ‘I was dancing away and was aware that someone was behind me and the next thing I felt was someone grab my bottom. It was a squeeze.
‘It was a busy night and people could brush past you accidentally but it was not that feeling at all, it was a proper grab of my bum.
‘I turned around and I said something along the lines of ‘what are you doing, you dick?’ and he was stood staring at me.
‘He walked off and didn’t say anything, he made eye contact with me and walked off.
‘It seemed to be most times I was up there dancing he would appear.
‘There was another three or four times when I was dancing he would grab me like he did in the first place.
‘I was more angry and told him to f**k off. There was no reaction, he just left.
Pictured: The front of Bulford Military Court Centre (file image)
‘Every time it was happening I was turning around looking over my shoulder and there was not anyone else there in that proximity that it could have been, Duckworth was at arm’s length.’f
She added: ‘He was just lurking. When I would turn and look over my shoulder, he was just there.’
Tearfully, she continued: ‘I left the mess because he had done it again and I had had enough, he clearly didn’t take the hint.
‘I was getting angry and what I wanted to do was hit him – in a normal world I would have lamped him, but I removed myself so I could not do that.’
Corrie character Vera Duckworth, portrayed by Liz Dawn, was loved by fans of the ITV soap thanks to her marriage with Jack Duckworth and had a storyline spanning 33 years.
A staggering 12.5 million viewers tuned in to see Vera’s death in January 2008 and a waxworks of her was even put up at Madame Tussaud’s in Blackpool.
Duckworth denies two counts of sexual assault, claiming that it was not him who touched the soldier’s bottom.
The trial continues.
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