Marine Guilty Of Assault In Portsmouth

1 October 2013, 09:18 | Updated: 1 October 2013, 09:20

A Royal Marine has pleaded guilty at Portsmouth's Naval base to assaulting three new recruits.

39 year old Peter Clarke is based at a Commando Training Centre in Devon. 

He admitted grabbing Marine Recruit Matthew Scott round the throat on May 19, 2012. 

He hit Joshua Croxford in the groin with a pace stick on June 30th last year and hit Adam Lushman in the face with a pair of combat boots on June 9, 2012. 

A pace stick is a long stick carried by a drill instructor as a symbol of authority and used to set a marching pace. 

The corporal, based at the Commando Training Centre in Lympstone, Devon, was due to stand trial on 14 charges. 

But after he entered the three guilty pleas, the prosecution offered no evidence on the other charges and Judge Advocate General Jeff Blackett formally found him not guilty of these offences. 

He also adjourned the case for Clark to be sentenced on the three charges this morning.