Army staff sergeant demoted after ‘yanking up colleague’s knickers and licked her face’
AN Army staff sergeant was demoted after yanking up a colleague’s knickers and licking her face, a court martial heard.
Kayleigh Preston allegedly pulled down the lower-ranking soldier’s trousers at work while she was on a video call.
She then grabbed Sgt Louise St Louis’s underwear and pointed out it matched the colour of her trousers, the hearing was told.
At another meeting, Preston licked the same colleague’s forehead, but said it was just “banter”.
She was found guilty earlier this year of ill-treatment of a subordinate and was reduced in rank to sergeant and ordered to pay her victim £800.
Now, Preston is appealing the decision. Bulford Military Court, Wilts, heard Sgt St Louis recorded the 2022 knicker-pulling incident in her diary but did not report it at the time as she did not want to “ruffle feathers”.
Warrant Officer Rebecca Sugden — in charge of Preston — blamed the toxic working environment at the Army Welfare Service in Tidworth, Wilts, on Sgt St Louis. She said: “The team dynamic was working well until Sgt St Louis entered the team.”
The appeal continues.