Tri-Service

Soldier Avoids Jail Over Rape Threats

A soldier who admitted sending rape threats to a woman via a dating app has avoided jail.

Nathan Brown, 23, was sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work after sending the “extremely sexual” messages in December.

Brown, who is based at the former RAF base in Leuchars, was also placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

He had previously spoken to the woman on Tinder.

According to the BBC, the soldier sent the string of messages in the early hours of December 9.

The victim woke up to read the messages and found “serious and graphic” threats before calling the police.

The Dundee Evening Telegraph reported the court was told: “The messages caused her alarm."

“At 4.27am she received a message which was extremely sexual in nature and then received a further two messages of a similar nature at 7.52am and 7.59am. She replied at 8am which aggravated the accused and he replied with a further message of a sexual nature at 8.15am.”

An hour later Brown sent another message apologising for what he had done.

He admitted being drunk at the time he sent the messages.

Brown’s solicitor, William Boyle, said: "The army take a pretty rigid approach to this."

"He has his commanding officer here today and he has told me that if he was sentenced to around 100 hours unpaid work he won't get dismissed from the service. If he is at liberty they will offer him support.”

"But I, and they, do not want to try to bargain with the court."

Sheriff Alastair Brown said the offences justified a “significant prison sentence” but as there was an alternative and the soldier had not been in trouble before he wouldn’t impose the prison sentence.