Senior Associate Solicitor & Team Leader, Abuse Claims
Four young women have told the BBC they were sexually assaulted and harassed while training at the Army Foundation College (AFC) in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. All four say the incidents happened when they were 17, over the past five years.
AFC is the largest UK training establishment for under-19s and takes in all of the Army's 16-year-old recruits. According to Ministry of Defence figures obtained by the BBC, the college received 176 complaints of inappropriate sexual behaviour between January 2018 and June 2025, and North Yorkshire Police recorded 16 reports of sexual offences linked to the college in the year to June alone.
The Army has described the allegations as unacceptable and out of step with its values and has pointed people towards the Defence Serious Crime Command, a unit that sits outside the normal Army chain of command, for support in reporting concerns.
This is not an isolated concern. A 2021 parliamentary review, the Atherton report, found women in the forces were being let down by an inadequate complaints process, including cases of rape and abuse of under-18s. Last year, a former army sergeant major was jailed for sexually assaulting 19-year-old Gunner Jaysley Beck, who died by suicide five months later. An inquest found the assault and the Army's response had contributed to her death. A Labour MP on the Defence Select Committee has since called for an independent inquiry into AFC, noting that recruits as young as 16 meet the government's own definition of a child.
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Royal Navy Adm. Sir Ben Key has ordered an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse within the submarine service. The decision follows an article from the Daily Mail which provided first-hand accounts of abuse towards female members of the submarine service.
Statistics from The Telegraph earlier this year revealed that only 29% of the 59 military personnel who were being tried for sexual offences in 2019 ended up being convicted.
We represented a man who was sexually abused as a child by his mother’s partner. Mr M suffered severe abuse over a 2-year period, which caused serious psychological problems.
4.5 out of 5 based off 3138 reviewsNathalie is deeply committed to helping survivors both in and out of the courtroom. She fought for justice, representing survivors as part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). During this inquiry, she collaborated closely with Counsel to explore the much needed changes to the law on limitation, the potential for a national redress scheme, and suggested changes to the current Criminal Injuries Scheme.
She's also very experienced with redness schemes. Nathalie has helped survivors through the Lambeth Redress Scheme and another scheme started by the Estate of Michael Studdert. Additionally, she played a key role in group actions against Manchester City Council, representing survivors who suffered abuse in children’s home in Manchester.
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