Ex-soldier, 41, who had sex with 13-year-old girl spared jail as woman judge says teenager 'did most of the running'



A soldier at Sandhurst who had sex with a 13-year-old girl was spared jail by a woman judge who said the victim was 'precocious' and 'made all the running'.

Nigel Thomson, 41, had sex with the schoolgirl in his room at the officers' academy just a day after a woman officer warned him she was 'dangerous'.

At a sentencing hearing yesterday, Judge Mary Mowat allowed Thomson to walk from Oxford Crown Court with a suspended sentence even though the maximum sentence is 14 years in jail.

'Stupid, not malicious': Former Household Cavalry soldier Private Nigel Thomson, 41, was spared jail by a judge who said that a 13-year-old 'Lolita' girl with whom he had sex had 'made all the running'

Ruling that Thomson had acted out of 'stupidity rather than malice', the judge said she regarded the offence as a 'one-off incident' and did not view him as a 'general danger to young girls'.

Judge Mowat added: 'It was clear from the evidence that she was a disturbed girl, that her behaviour was precocious in several respects, that she looked and acted older than her age and she made most of the running.'

But she added: 'Whether you knew her age or not, you had the duty as a man in his 40s to make sure she was the legal age.'

An earlier hearing was told that Falklands veteran Thomson, who served in the Army as a private for 22 years, struck up a friendship with the young girl at the stables where he worked as a groom.

Judge Mary Mowat told the defendant: 'This was not a breach of trust situation. Although she was vulnerable, you too in a sense, are vulnerable as you are a simple man'

As their friendship developed, the female officer became concerned about the pair in the light of what she knew about the girl's similar behaviour with older men in the past.

A day after the warning from the officer, the girl was sent home from school after she was caught drinking alcohol.

She went to the stables where she met Thomson, and the pair went back to his room for sex using a condom supplied by the girl.

Thomson was arrested by Royal Military Police after the girl produced the condom which she had kept as a trophy.

Martin Mulgrew, defending, said the 'troubled' and 'disturbed' teenager had been visiting a horse Thomson looked after to seek solace from her problems.

'She confided in Mr Thomson,' he said. 'He would talk to her about her problems and over a two week period they got to know one another.

'She was crying and Mr Thomson invited her back to his room to comfort her and one thing led to another. She was a time-bomb waiting to go off. Unfortunately it was Mr Thomson she went off on.'

Mr Mulgrew said the defendant, who was living with his girlfriend and her 15-year-old daughter in Ashtead, Surrey, at the time of the incident, had suffered 'blind moral panic'.

Thomson, who resigned from the Army following the incident, was described in court as 'not the most capable of people', reflected in the fact that he had remained a private during his entire service career.

He admitted one count of sexual activity with a child.

Sentencing him to a 51-week prison sentence suspended for two years, Judge Mowat said: 'She [the victim] was just short of 14. There are many girls of 14 in this country who are sexually active - this may not be a good thing but it is a fact that has to be recognised.

'She has indicated that she does not want you to go to prison. Despite taking advantage of her you were kind to her and her plea repeats this fact.

'This was not a breach of trust situation. Although she was vulnerable, you too in a sense, are vulnerable as you are a simple man. What occurred was stupidity rather than malice.'



The judge also handed Thomson, who has now moved to Leicestershire to live with his father, a 12-month supervision requirement, and banned him from teaching or instructing girls under the age of 16.

The former soldier was also banned from contacting the victim until she reaches the age of 16. She cannot be named for legal reasons.