An army sergeant was demoted and detained for six months after punching and twisting the nipples of “raw recruits” to toughen them up, a tribunal has heard.

Lance Sergeant Liam Cruise-Taylor targeted seven young recruits in the Irish Guards, part of the household division of the army which provides protection for the Queen.

In a bullying campaign which took place at Catterick Infantry Centre, North Yorkshire, he repeatedly punched young recruits while they were on parade and elbowed one in the chest, telling him to "stand up and take it like a man" when the blow caused him to double over.

In further incidents which took place between July 2016 and February 2017, the 32-year-old also twisted one soldier's nipples and slapped another recruit in the face after he said Cruise-Taylor's name incorrectly.

The veteran soldier, who had a previous exemplary military record, was sentenced to six months' service detention and demoted to lance corporal after he admitted ill-treating subordinates at a courts martial in April this year.