Martin Leatherbarrow, a 42-year-old former British Army sergeant, has been handed an 18-month community order and 80 hours of unpaid work for sexually assaulting two Royal Marines. the incidents took place at the Defence Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (DCBRN) training centre in Winterbourne Gunner, Wiltshire.
The assaults at the Winterbourne Gunner DCBRN centre
The incidents occurred during the final evening of a specialized course at the DCBRN facility, where Sergeant Martin Leatherbarrow was a permanent staff member. According to the report,Leatherbarrow targeted two junior Royal Marines—one male and one female—whom he had never met previously. He first approached the male marine, eventually placing a hand on the man's upper thigh and kissing the spine of his head despite attempts to push him away.
Later that evening, Leatherbarrow targeted a female Royal Marine as she attempted to move toward a snooker room. The report says he grabbed her right rear and whispered, "God, you're so nice," into her ear. The female marine was reported to have cried following the encounter, and both victims later described feeling psychologically scarred and betrayed in their victim impact statements.
An 18-month community order instead of prison
Despite the judge describing the assaults as "deliberate,consistent and entirely unacceptable," Sergeant Martin Leatherbarrow avoided a custodial sentence. he instead received an 18-month service community order, 80 hours of unpaid community work, and a period of strict supervision. This sentencing decision has sparked significant backlash from the military community and veteran protection groups who believe the lack of prison time fails to protect future victims.
Prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Neil Keery highlighted the hostile nature of the sergeant's behavior throughout the evening. However, the court opted for a restorative justice approach, allowing Leatherbarrow to remain in a stable environment to pursue therapy rather than facing incarceration.
How 25 years of service and PTSD shaped the verdict
The court's leniency was heavily influenced by Martin Leatherbarrow's 25-year military career, which included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He holds the Iraq Medal and the Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan, reflecting a history of service in special operations involving chemical and biological threats. The defense argued that these experiences led to severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), for which Leatherbarrow had already been medically discharged from the Army.
The defense further claimed that Leatherbarrow used alcohol as a form of self-medication following a marital breakdown and the loss of his professional position. While the court noted that his history of DUI and substance abuse was problematic, these mitigating health and personal factors ultimately outweighed the punitive necessity of a prison term.
The lack of military healthcare for the two assaulted Marines
A critical gap in the resolution of this case is the status of the victims' recovery. As reported, neither of the two Royal Marines will receive healthcare or ongoing support within the military system following the court's decision. This leaves the victims to manage the emotional and psychoolgical fallout of the assaults without the institutional resources of the Ministry of Defence.
This lack of support raises urgent questions about the military's internal priorities. While the court focused on the rehabilitation of the perpetrator, the absence of a mandated support plan for the victims suggests a disparity in how the justice system values the trauma of the assailant versus the trauma of the assaulted.
The tension between MOD misconduct goals and Leatherbarrow's sentence
This case arrives at a time when the Department of Defence is under pressure to take more aggressive action against sexual misconduct within training facilities.. The decision to grant a community order to a senior non-commissioned officer like Martin Leatherbarrow may be seen as an echo of older military jsutice patterns that prioritized the "service record" of the accused over the safety of junior personnel.
The reaction from the broader military community indicates a growing intolerance for the use of mental health as a total shield against criminal accountability. By avoiding jail, Leatherbarrow's case highlights a systemic friction between the military's desire to modernize its conduct standards and a judicial tendency to favor long-serving veterans with documented trauma.
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