A HELICOPTER pilot at RAF Odiham accused of groping an officer while she slept told a court martial she had made it "crystal clear" she found him sexually attractive.

Flight Lieutenant Stuart Hague (pictured above) said he climbed into the young officer's bed believing he was welcome, but conceded he had "misinterpreted a wealth of signals".

He said he simply put his arm around her and was extremely shocked when she recoiled.

Realising his mistake, he said he felt "extremely embarrassed, angry with myself and disappointed".

He denied having put his hand inside the female officer's pyjama bottoms or climbing in through a window, as was alleged.

He said he was too drunk and claimed he entered through an unlocked door.

Hague, who joined the RAF in December 1996 and served in the Gulf, denies indecently assaulting the woman at RAF Odiham in the early hours of April 2 last year following a champagne party.

It is alleged that he assaulted her after climbing into her bed in a room at the base when she had left the party before him.

Hague, a Chinook pilot, serving with 18 Squadron, told the hearing the officer had been "heavily flirtatious" during the party in the officers' mess.

He claimed she had stroked his thighs, talked explicitly and raised her top to show him her bra.

Hague, 31, said she drunkenly flung her arms around his neck and kissed him.

He said: "She said she found me very attractive, that it was helped by my job as a pilot. At the time I owned a TVR sports car, which she also mentioned.

"She said I had nice eyes and generally found me attractive above and beyond a friendship way."

Hague also told the hearing he had previously been shocked by her behaviour and, on one occasion, they had engaged in heavy petting.

The court martial, at Bulford Camp near Salisbury, Wiltshire, continues.

First published: Monday, April 25, 2002