An RAF corporal accused of raping a junior colleague while watching the Barbie movie has been cleared.
Corporal Liam Avenell, 37, was accused of inviting the younger woman to his room in RAF Brize Norton to watch the 2023 Hollywood film before ‘forcibly’ kissing her and ‘holding her face down’.
But following the conclusion of a four-day trial at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, he was cleared of one count of rape.
The panel heard that Cpl Avenell and his junior were ‘no more than work colleagues’ and that she thought it was ‘normal’ when he invited her to his room.
He was alleged to have told the colleague to get her toothbrush and everything else she needed to stay the night, which she said she did ‘in a state of shock’.
Prosecutors said he then forced himself on the woman and raped her in actions which left her traumatised.
Corporal Liam Avenell (pictured outside court) has been cleared of raping a junior colleague while watching the Barbie movie
He was acquitted by a panel of military officers sitting on the case when it went to trial at Bulford Military Court (pictured)
Cpl Avenell was alleged to have sent photos to the woman the next day of the bruises she had given him which she claimed occurred when she tried to push him off.
He denied raping the woman, who can’t be named for legal reasons, and was acquitted by a panel of military officers sitting on the case.
Cpl Avenell was stationed at Oxfordshire’s RAF Brize Norton at the time of the alleged incident, it was heard, and worked aboard RAF Voyager.
The ship is the UK’s sole air-to-air refuelling and strategic transport aircraft.
