Two Royal Marine corporals ran a Deal Or No Deal-style forfeit game in which fellow troops were forced to perform disgusting or brutal tasks, a court martial heard.
Corporals Philip Beer and Danny Foster allegedly oversaw a nightly gathering called ‘family time’, during which they harshly punished ‘professional failings’ such as spilling coffee or mistreating kit.
The punishments included one named ‘Django,’ – after Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning film about slavery ‘Django Unchained’ – and required victims to be hung upside down and be whipped, Portsmouth Military Court heard.
Another that was allegedly dished out, called ‘new born baby’, involved making a marine shave all the hair from their body.
One of their ‘victims’ claimed the punishment sessions gave him Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Philip Beer (left, wearing glasses) and Danny Foster (right) appearing at an earlier Court Martial hearing in September
The alleged punishments came after members of the 43-Commando troop were forced to stand up and pick box numbers, similar to contestants in Deal or No Deal, hosted by Noel Edmonds, the court martial heard.
Each box contained a punishment and one of the troop act would as ‘The Banker’, offering different punishments to the marines, the court heard.
The men could then choose to accept, just as contestants in the real show would be able to take money offered to them.
The ‘victim’ marine, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: ‘There was a PowerPoint presentation and the forfeits would be projected onto the wall and others would be holding bits of paper with numbers on.
‘On one occasion, I had two boxes (choices) left and we would usually get a swap offered by whoever was the banker.
‘Foster knew I had Django and would not let me swap because he knew I hated it.
‘I had to take the punishment – there was a metal pull-up bar in the gym which you would hang from and be whipped.
Foster (pictured in his civvies in September) denies three counts of ill treatment of a subordinate
‘Corporal Foster was not there when I was whipped, I had to have another marine do it and be my witness.
‘There were different things used to whip you – on this occasion I was whipped with a rubber exercise band and then left hanging there afterwards.’
During cross examination by Gareth Evans, who represents Foster, the marine said his time with 43 Commando had led to him developing post traumatic stress disorder.
When asked by Mr Evans whether he had problems with his memory, the marine said: ‘I have PTSD due to what happened.
‘That does affect my memory and I try to put what went on out of my mind, but I do remember what happened
Prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Graham Coombes said Foster, 30, and Beer, 34, were on security deployment between May and August 2014 when they oversaw punishments to two marines.
Lt Col Coombes said: ‘This case concerns the ill treatment of two marines by the accused, who were troop corporals in 43 Commando at the time.
‘During the course of their deployment on a security operation at bases including Faslane and Coulport, the marines would take part in a nightly gathering known as family time.
‘This served as an unofficial way of dealing with any professional failings that may have happened, ranging from not wiping up a coffee stain to not looking after troop equipment properly.’
The first charge related to a group of young marines being forced to perform sex acts while watching gay pornography.
‘When one of them told Foster he wasn’t going to do Foster allegedly told him ‘you f****** are’.
The second charge relates to the alleged Django game, when a victim was allegedly dangled upside down from a bar and be whipped with a rubber gym mat.
In one scene in Django Unchained, a black slave is chained upside down and whipped.
Describing how the punishments would come through a game of Deal or No Deal, Lt Col Coombes told the hearing: ‘A person playing the banker could offer punishments throughout the game.
‘In this incident the complainant tried to swap his box, which was part of the game, but Foster refused to allow him to do this and instead imposed Django, which was the offered punishment.
‘In the third charge, another marine was given the ‘new born baby’ punishment and was required to shave off all the hair on his body.
‘The complainant had two boxes left in a game of Deal or No Deal, when Beer, who was playing the banker, made an offer of the new born baby punishment.
The hearing is being held at Portsmouth Military Court (pictured), in Hampshire
‘When the complainant was not willing to accept it, Beer told him he was going to receive it anyway.’
He told the court how the final charge also related to the ‘new born baby’ punishment.
‘Beer asked the complainant if he had shaved all his hair,’ Lt Col Coombes told the hearing. ‘The complainant said he had spent an hour-and-a-half shaving and had tried his best, but when checked he had not got all the hair.
‘He was given 15 minutes to shave the remaining hair, but refused – saying he had gone above and beyond already.
‘Corporal Beer told him to go outside because he was to be given a ‘thrashing’, which involved him running up and down a hill in full weapons gear and carrying 20 large water bottles both up and down.
‘Both the defendants oversaw this and it took the complainant around four hours to complete.’
Lt Col Coombes added: ‘In order to find a charge proved, you the board must be sure that the defendants were treated badly by corporals Foster and Beer.’
Foster denies three counts of ill treatment of a subordinate, while Beer denies two counts of the same charge.
The trial continues.
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