Bisexual soldier Hannah Heslop, who told a female colleague she would 'make her gay' before sexually assaulting her while she slept, has been jailed for seven years
Photo: Solent News
Bisexual soldier Hannah Heslop, who told a female colleague she would 'make her gay' before sexually assaulting her while she slept, has been jailed for seven years

Hannah Heslop assaulted the woman after a night out in March last year

25-year-old went back to barracks with victim
Sexually assaulted and undressed the woman as she slept at barracks

-Convicted of assault by penetration after trial at Bulford Military Court

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A bisexual soldier who told a female colleague she would 'make her gay' before sexually assaulting her while she slept has been jailed for seven years. 
Hannah Heslop, a former Lance Corporal, has also been dismissed from the army as it emerged she assaulted the woman after a night out.
The 25-year-old was told she had 'failed in her duty of care' after she accompanied the woman, who cannot be named, back to Normandy Barracks in Leconfield, East Yorkshire, March last year.
Heslop, who had been in the armed forces for more than nine years, was convicted of sexual assault by penetration after a three-day trial at Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire.
The court heard Heslop was 'clearly attracted' to the victim and 'hope for sexual activity' on the night on the incident. 
The victim, who returned to barracks with Heslop, told the court she work up in pain to 'find the accused between her legs'.  
Heslop, who alleged the pair had consensual sex, later boasted about the incident to colleagues - but claimed in court she was 'just showing off'. 




Judge Advocate Alan Large told her today: 'In March last year you were part of a course at Leconfield, Yorkshire.
'You met the complainant and were sexually attracted to her. You and she went out and you made your attraction apparent to her and others. The complainant drank heavily, so did you.
'You both left together to return to camp. The board found that when you left at that stage you certainly hoped sexual activity might follow.
'You returned to the room, the board rejected your evidence that you had consensual sexual intercourse.'  




Lieutenant Colonel David Phillips, prosecuting, read parts of two victim impact statements.
In the statements, the victim said she no longer felt comfortable going out without her boyfriend, had lost her confidence and had trouble sleeping.
She added: 'I find myself breaking into tears thinking about what happened. It doesn't matter if I'm in public or private I will just break into tears.
'These feelings and emotions of mine have all been a direct result of what LC Heslop did to me without my consent.'
In a second statement from the victim, taken earlier this year, she said: 'It has affected my work and might end up affecting my career because I do not like going out of the UK.




The 25-year-old former Lance Corporal has also been dismissed from the army as it emerged she assaulted the woman after a night out, Bulford Military Court heard
Photo: Getty Images
The 25-year-old former Lance Corporal has also been dismissed from the army as it emerged she assaulted the woman after a night out, Bulford Military Court heard
'I also do not tend to go out socialising any more. If I do, it is only when my boyfriend is with me. If I do, I end up feeling guilty the next day as if I am not allowed to enjoy myself.'
The court heard that Heslop joined the armed forces in January 2007 and has been a Lance Corporal since October 2012.
She has served in various countries including Sierre Leone during the country's recent Ebola crisis - a position she volunteered for.
Lieutenant Colonel Phillips said: 'She has a number of operational service medals. A medal for Cyprus, Afghanistan and for her service in West Africa.'
Christopher Hill, defending, said Heslop had been in foster care and her background and childhood was 'not good'.




The 25-year-old was told she had 'failed in her duty of care' after she accompanied the woman, who cannot be named, back to barracks (pictured) in March last year
Photo: Solent NewsThe 25-year-old was told she had 'failed in her duty of care' after she accompanied the woman, who cannot be named, back to barracks (pictured) in March last year
He added: 'I do not attempt to minimise the offence, it is accepted that it is a serious matter.
'It is a tragedy really that what started as a happy social event ended the way it did. It is going to wreck the life of Lance Corporal Heslop. It is effectively going to destroy her.
'This is not simply someone who went out of their way to target a victim to get what they wanted, it is much more complicated than that. 
'She took the view if I did not get a definite no it is a yes. That is the communication skills one probably learns on her mother's knee and she probably did not get that.
'She bitterly regrets whatever went on in that room and that she got herself into those circumstances.'  
Heslop will also be put on the sexual offenders register indefinitely.