Two Army instructors have been jailed and dismissed from the military after engaging in sexual relations with a 17-year-old recruit. Lance Sergeant Antony Pugh, 36, and Sergeant Connor Forgan, 32, were convicted of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust following a court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire.
The pair, who were instructors at the infantry training centre in North Yorkshire, boasted to each other about their conduct. The court heard that both defendants showed degrees of planning and were in positions of trust due to their rank. Commander Edward Hannah, prosecuting, said the hierarchical structure of the military places power with rank, especially in a training facility.
The recruit had to undergo STD and pregnancy tests after the encounters and suffered an internal injury. Pugh and Forgan also shared lewd and degrading messages about the teenager. The judge described their behaviour as disgraceful, indecent, and misogynistic, noting that the recruit was a 17-year-old child who did not deserve such treatment.
Both defendants were veterans of the conflict in Afghanistan. Pugh, a father-of-two from the Grenadier Guards, and Forgan, from the Welsh Guards, were sentenced to prison and dismissed from the Army. The judge highlighted the power imbalance in such relationships, particularly within the military, where instructors are role models and mentors for recruits.
