AN ARMY cadet who bullied and sexually assaulted a colleague has been labelled a "childish idiot" by a judge.
Nathan Williams, 20, targeted the girl after subjecting her to months of bullying at a military training centre in the city.
Williams had been training to go into the army at the Quality Personal Development College, Hessle Road, west Hull, when he humiliated and bullied the girl for months before subjecting her to a humiliating assault.
A jury at Hull Crown Court found Williams guilty of sexual assault after hearing evidence about his campaign of intimidation and harassment against the girl.
Sentencing him to a community order, the honorary Recorder of Hull and the East Riding Judge Michael Mettyear told Williams: "Don't be such an idiot again. Grow up and start treating women properly.
"This was bullying of this unfortunate girl."
He said Williams had demeaned the woman as a way of bullying her.
Judge Mettyear said: "I work on the basis it was not for any sexual gratification, you were just in it to humiliate her.
"Had this been for sexual gratification, you would be going to prison straight away."
Williams, of Beverley, was given a 12-month community order and was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had complained to staff at the college, which prepares students for a career in the forces, but no action was taken, forcing her to call in police.
In tears, the girl told the court: "If I asked him to stop, it just got worse. I just felt humiliated and degraded.
"I told the staff and they were fairly dismissive and they told me he was being childish. I told them at least twice. I was horrified, I couldn't believe it. He was looking at me as though I was a joke, someone to be mocked.
"I felt degraded, I just wanted to get on with things and ignore it. I had just had enough, I just wanted to get it stopped and college was not doing much so I decided to go to the police."
However, just one month after giving a statement to police, a recruiting sergeant in Hull warned her she would not be able to take up her place in the Army if she pursued the complaint, the court heard.
The girl withdrew her complaint until Detective Constable Angie Elvin of Humberside Police contacted the Army, warning staff would be perverting the course of justice if they failed to allow the girl to continue the case.
