‘morally-bankrupt’ soldiers were cleared of raping female colleague they called ‘sl*g’ who later hanged herself, but are they clear of their moral responsibility? …are they still serving?

Corporal Anne-Marie Ellement, 30, alleged that two male soldiers raped her
Thomas Fulton and Jeremy Jones, both 28, cleared of rape charges today
She died two years after alleged attack at Sennelager Barracks in Germany
Freeing them judge still called the pair’s behaviour on night ‘disgraceful’
Judge Jeff Blackett also slammed Fulton for calling her a ‘sl*g’ afterwards

Two soldiers accused of raping a female corporal who later killed herself were cleared today – but a judge still called their behaviour ‘disgraceful’.
Jeremy Jones, 28, and Thomas Fulton, also 28, were accused of attacking Royal Military Police corporal Anne-Marie Ellement at their barracks in the early hours of November 20 2009.
The men, who have since left the Army, admitted they both had sex with Cpl Ellement while stationed in Sennelager, Germany, but insist she consented.
A seven-strong board of civil servants and senior military officers found both Fulton and Jones not guilty of two charges of raping Cpl Ellement.
But Judge Jeff Blackett said the pair should be ‘ashamed’ of how they ‘discarded’ her after the sex and in a direct attack on Fulton he said he had been cruel to call her a ‘sl*g’ in the aftermath.

Court martial: Thomas Fulton (left) and Jeremy Jones (right), both 28, were accused of raping Cpl Ellement in the early hours of November 20 2009 while she was serving with the Royal Military Police in Germany
Evidence: Corporal Anne-Marie Ellement said she had been raped by the men – but they were cleared of all charges today

Corporal Anne-Marie Ellement (pictured left and right, at her passing out parade) was found almost naked and crying in an Army barracks corridor on the night in question, a court martial heard

Bulford Court Martial Centre in Wiltshire heard that Cpl Ellement, from Bournemouth, killed herself two years after alleging she had been raped.A seven-strong board of civil servants and senior military officers found both Fulton and Jones not guilty of two charges of raping Cpl Ellement

Critical: Judge Jeff Blackett said the men had treated the woman disgracefully after having sex with her

But despite walking free the men were criticised for the way they treated Cpl Ellement after the sex.
Judge Jeff Blackett told them: ‘Thomas Fulton and Jeremy Jones: your conduct on 20 November was disgraceful.
‘This is not a moral judgment and I make no comment upon sexual practices involving more than two people.
‘But the way you treated Anne-Marie after your encounter was extremely unpleasant.
‘After engaging in sex you effectively discarded her while you decided to go off to town without a thought for how she might be feeling or how she might get back to her accommodation safely.
‘For Mr Fulton to call her those very unpleasant names including the word ‘slag’ was truly dishonourable.’You may have grown up in the seven years since this incident and I hope you will never act in such an appalling way again. When you look back on what happened you must feel very ashamed’.
Witnesses described how Jones, Fulton and Cpl Ellement were flirting and touching each other and discussing whether to have a threesome. The trio went to Jones’s room at about 12.30am, where Cpl Ellement said she was raped by both men.
Cpl Ellement was discovered drunk and distressed, with her eyes rolling back in her head, in her accommodation block at 1.37am. Colleagues found her naked apart from a long brown cardigan, with muddy feet, struggling to stand and crying. She immediately alleged that Fulton had tried to have sex with her, later adding that Jones had grabbed her breasts.
Jeremy Jones’ room at the barracks in Sennelager, Germany, where Royal Military Police corporal Anne-Marie Ellement said she had been raped. The picture was shown in court
Jeremy Jones’ room at the barracks in Sennelager, Germany, where Royal Military Police corporal Anne-Marie Ellement said she had been raped. The picture was shown in court
The group had been drinking in the Corporal’s Mess bar in Sennelager on the night of the sexual encounter, Fulton told the court

The group had been drinking in the Corporal’s Mess bar in Sennelager on the night of the sexual encounter, Fulton told the court

In a lengthy video interview, Cpl Ellement, then aged 28, said she had not consented to sex with Fulton or Jones.
‘I know that it’s a really serious thing and the outcome affects what happens in their lives and careers,’ she said.
‘I don’t want to get someone accused of something they hadn’t done but I know that I didn’t want to have sex.’
Fulton, from Chester, told the court Cpl Ellement had consented ‘at all times’ to having a threesome with him and Jones. The former soldier admitted he had sworn and shouted at her after they had sex because she was wearing his trousers and refused to take them off.
Jones, from Carmarthenshire, also insisted Cpl Ellement had consented to sex, describing the atmosphere as flirtatious and giggly.Pictured with her mother: Cpl Ellement, who died two years later, spent the evening drinking with several service personnel in their mess

He said Cpl Ellement became unhappy afterwards as he and Fulton planned to go to a nightclub in Sennelager.
A panel of civil servants and senior military officers was not initially told the circumstances of Cpl Ellement’s death in 2011, when she was 30. They were then read a police interview in which Fulton said: ‘I am really sorry she killed herself.
‘I wish something had been done to help her. I wish she had got the help she needed but it wasn’t my responsibility.
‘I was trying to get on with my own life. I’m having my life blown to pieces by this. She lied about this incident.’

The case as told from beyond ….

In the intervening hours that night Ms Waterhouse said there was a “fair amount” of flirting between the three of them, and at one stage Fulton was seen kissing her neck.
Ms Waterhouse said Fulton suggested to Ms Ellement about having a threesome, and told the board: “You have to decide if this was a remark she took seriously or as harmless banter.
“Did she have the capacity to consent?”
The court was shown a police interview with Cpl Ellement recorded tow days after the alleged rapes.
Cpl Ellement said: “Tom kept mentioning all night about having a threesome and I thought he was joking, because I would never do that.

Anne-Marie Ellement

“Tom showed me a text saying ‘Tell Anne-Marie Jez fancies her’ and Tom and I were having a laugh about that.
“I pretty much remember the majority of stuff and we went upstairs to Jez’s room so he could get changed to go out.”
She said the next thing she remembered was Fulton on top of her having sex, while she tried to push him off.
She said: “I was saying to him ‘No it really hurts, it really hurts. Stop’”
The last thing she recalled was Jones grabbing her breasts.
She continued: “I don’t know how I got back to my accommodation or why I was naked.”
The court heard that when a urine sample was taken from Ms Ellement at around 7.30am the following morning – some six hours after she was found in the corridor – she was more than twice the drink drive limit.
Fulton’s DNA was also found inside the waistband of her knickers, the court heard.
He and Jones were arrested that morning, and while Fulton declined to comment on the allegations, Jones said they both had consensual sex with her.

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