Ex-Army cadet leader 'grabbed' teen girl, court told

Neil Beckett pictured at a previous court appearance

A former Army cadet leader accused of 29 sex offences against teenage girls “poked” and “grabbed” a young cadet, while asking “are you ticklish?" a court has heard.

The alleged incident happened during a training exercise, while the then teenager was alone with the defendant.

Among the string of charges against Neil Beckett, of Kilmore near Crossgar, County Down, is an allegation of rape by another, separate cadet.

Appearing before Belfast Crown Court, 43-year-old Mr Beckett denies all the charges against him.

Allegations

The charges relate to 11 alleged victims - two of whom were teenage Army cadets.

A number of years after those alleged offences, Mr Beckett took up a job as health and welfare officer at Lagan College in south Belfast.

It was during that time when the remaining nine complainants, who were pupils at the school, allege he sexually assaulted them.

The alleged offences span a 10-year period between 2013 and 2023.

In an interview with police that was shown to the 12-person jury, the Army cadet complainant described the alleged tickling during the training exercise.

“I said, ‘get off, get off’,” she said.

“The way it came across, he took it as playful. He kept on going.

"Eventually he stopped, but it took a while for him to stop. Constantly poking or nipping, grabbing at my sides. I just did not know what to do.”

'I felt very uncomfortable'

She described a separate incident during the same training session, when she was practising a manoeuvre on the ground, in which she had to lie flat on her stomach with her legs outstretched.

She said he adjusted her leg position, but instead of doing so by the sole of her boot, he lifted her leg from around and above her knee.

“After the tickling, I felt really awkward and vulnerable in that position because I was lying on my front," she said.

"He could clearly see my backside and I felt very uncomfortable.”

The complainant described a number of other incidents in which she said Mr Beckett brought her into his office and gave her “firm” and “strong” hugs.

She said she had been having a hard time and he had offered her his support.

On one occasion he put his hand on her shoulder, but “it was closer to my chest than it was my shoulder”.

'I tried to push away but I couldn’t'

Describing the first time he hugged her, she said: “It wasn’t like a reassuring hug, it was more like a bear hug. Not something you could easily back out of.

"Like he had his arms locked around me and I couldn’t break out.

“It’s not something you would give to a friend or a partner. You would give this to someone if you were trying to hold them in place and that’s what he did.

"I tried to push away but I couldn’t.”

She said the defendant then kissed her on the cheek.

When she eventually decided to challenge the defendant about his alleged behaviour, she said he denied her claims, saying he was “not a huggy person”.

She said he told her that her allegation was “pretty serious”.

“Then he went on to say, ‘I wouldn’t want something like this affecting your ability to come to cadets and progressing as far as you can," she told police in the recorded interview.

She added that he told her she was a good cadet but "accusations like this could not allow you to go as far as you want to".

The alleged victim said of the Army cadets: “It was something I loved. It was Neil [Beckett] who was making it hell.”

'Limited opportunity'

Cross-examining the complainant, Mr Beckett’s barrister told her that he did not say anything along the lines of "if you complain, you won't be promoted."

The barrister said Mr Beckett claimed not to have had any meaningful interactions with her.

She also put it to the complainant that, during the period of time when the offences were alleged to have occurred, Mr Beckett had "limited opportunity" to have "one-to-one" time with her.

The complainant rejected this, saying there was time, and that "Neil [Beckett] had opportunities to assault me, which he then used."

The defence lawyer said that after consulting records about the complainant's time at Army cadets, it appeared that she did not attend the training session where she alleged the tickling incident occurred with Mr Beckett.

The complainant said that as Mr Beckett was in charge, it was he who would have filled out the attendance records - but she was adamant that she was present and that he abused her.

The trial continues.