Corporals Danny Foster, 30, (pictured) and Philip Beer, 34, both face charges of ill-treatment of a subordinate at the trial at Portsmouth Naval Base
A Royal Marine has told a court martial he was forced to shave off all his body hair during a form of informal punishment based on the TV show Deal Or No Deal.
Corporals Danny Foster, 30, and Philip Beer, 34, both face charges of ill-treatment of a subordinate at the trial at Portsmouth Naval Base.
The court has heard that members of 5 Troop 43 Commando would hold a daily gathering called Family Time in the television room during which forfeits would be handed out for minor misdemeanours.
The alleged incidents took place while the troop was tasked with guarding Faslane Naval Base, home of the fleet’s nuclear submarines on the River Clyde in Scotland, and at the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at nearby Coulport, where the nuclear weapons are stored.
Marine Ryan Dunn, one of two alleged victims, told the court the two defendants would ‘lead’ the punishments handed out.
He said the punishments would be either chosen by the throw of a dice or by playing a version of Deal Or No Deal using a PowerPoint presentation projected on to the wall, with one of the marines playing Noel Edmonds, including wearing a fake beard.
He said that on one occasion he had completed the Deal Or No Deal game and had come out with one of the more lenient punishments when Cpl Beer, acting as The Banker, stepped in and gave him the New Born Baby, punishment which involved shaving off all body hair.
Mne Dunn said he shaved all his body apart from his backside and added: ‘I didn’t want to take a razor blade to that part of my body.’
He said that the following morning Cpl Beer asked another marine to inspect him and then ordered him to shave again but he refused.
Foster denies two charges of ill-treatment of a subordinate while Beer (right) denies one count of the same charge
The prosecution today dropped one count of ill-treatment of a subordinate against the two Royal Marine corporals after the alleged victim said he couldn’t remember who ordered him to run repeatedly up and down a hill while carrying scaffolding poles and other heavy items from a building site.
Marine Dunn had claimed he was made to carry a 24kg kettle bell for 24 hours and also carry 20 to 30 water barrels, weighing 20kg each, to the top of a hill before bringing them down again.
But giving evidence today he said: ‘It was done at the next family time by the corporals but I cannot remember who actually decided it.’
Beer was alleged to have handed out the punishment, while Foster was accused of overseeing it.
The trial has heard other punishments given out at Family Time included one based on the Quentin Tarantino movie Django Unchained, involving a marine being hung upside down naked and whipped, and another involving a marine committing a sex act while watching gay porn.
Foster denies two charges of ill-treatment of a subordinate while Beer denies one count of the same charge.
The trial continues.
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