Ex-Sergeant Guilty Of More Cadet Sex Attacks

An army recruitment sergeant has been found guilty of abusing and bullying women as young as 15 who were in his charge.

Edwin Mee, 46, was convicted of three sexual assaults after using his power to "deliberately target" the Croydon-based women, most of whom were from abroad, in 2010 and 2011.

The Glasgow-born defendant had already been found guilty on Tuesday at London's Southwark Crown Court of a list of offences, including rape and sexual assault.

He was found not guilty of three other charges and jurors were discharged after they failed to reach a verdict on one count of rape and one of sexual assault after more than 30 hours' deliberation.

The result means the divorced father of five has now been convicted of 16 offences involving nine victims. He had denied all 21 charges against him.

Jurors were told how Mee would stay late at the careers centre, interviewing applicants out of hours to "deliberately target" his victims.

They heard how he was accused of kissing a 15-year-old against her wishes and slapping another woman on the bottom as she left the office.

Another victim, who was raped, described how she had seen Mee as a father figure before the attack.

Prosecutor Rosina Cottage said: "The implication is clear - put up or shut up.

"This is a pattern of bullying sexual behaviour that was repeated again and again to the female cadets to make them feel that he had power over them and control over their future.

"A number of the complainants in this case were young black women, born outside the United Kingdom.

"Whether the defendant believed that this gave them vulnerability in relation to their immigration status, or gave him an excuse to pretend that he had some power over them, the inference that the prosecution say can be drawn is that he deliberately targeted these young women."

Mee will be sentenced next month.