A SHERIFF has condemned the "puerile and repugnant" behaviour of three Royal Marines who exposed themselves, urinated and simulated sexual acts on each other in public simply to surpass the 'outrageous conduct' of past raw recruits.
The military careers of Luke Bowen, Jordan Coia and Ben James were left in ruins after they committed the offences outside an Arbroath nightclub with a civilian, Craig Lynch.
Forfar Sheriff Court heard of past 'boorish behaviour' by Marines in the Angus town as the four were sentenced to hundreds of hours of community work after admitting public indecency.
Sheriff Gregor Murray told them: “It appears there’s an expectation that Marines participate in conduct such as this.
“This was puerile and repugnant as the narration clearly demonstrates.
“The background reports on all of you suggest outrageous conduct by past Marines is expected to be surpassed by newer recruits.
Adding that normally he would have jailed them, Sheriff Murray added that as a "direct alternative" and Coia must perform 225 hours of unpaid work in the community, James 240, Bowen 300 and Lynch 260 hours.
Lawyer for the men, who were stationed at RM Condor in Abroath, said the members of the Marines were held in 'high regard' by townsfolk.
This had led to the Royal Marines being given the “the freedom of Arbroath" but the court heard this had also led to “boorish behaviour.”
Fiscal depute Stewart Duncan said the incident was captured on CCTV outside DeVitos nightclub and reported to police by staff.
Mr Duncan said the images showed a man, who was not part of the case, urinating. He added: “Bowen then comes towards him, bends down with his head at the other man’s crotch and is seen to be drinking the urine."
Bowen then began urinating himself, which he drank, before James did the same to Bowen's urine. Bowen then put his penis in James's mouth simulating a sexual act.
Coia repeated the behaviour before Lynch carried out the same simulation wwith Bowen.
The men have not been placed on the sex offenders register because there was “no significant sexual element" to the crime.
Lynch, 42, of Aberdeen, James, 22, of Thirsk, Bowen, 25, of Chichester, and Coia, 22, of RM Condor, pleaded guilty on summary complaint. Three other Marines had not guilty pleas accepted.
Solicitor Nick Whelan, for Coia, said his client was concerned about the consquences of not taking part in the initiation ceremony. He said: “This was an act of reckless stupidity. A culture exists within the Royal Marines of an expectation of this type of behaviour."
A Navy spokesman said: “The Naval Service will not tolerate any behaviour which is unbecoming of a Royal Marine."
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