AN ARMY Staff Sergeant who crept into a young woman soldiers bedroom and molested her as she slept has been convicted of indecent assault.

Staff Sergeant Norman Finnegan, aged 44, sneaked into the womens block at Cawdor Barracks, Brawdy, after a drunken night out and lay on the bed next to the woman, a court martial at Bulford Camp, Wiltshire, heard.

The 22-year-old woman said she awoke to find Finnegan rubbing her breasts, legs and bottom. Married Finnegan then slipped his hand down her pyjama trousers and sexually assaulted her.

He then claimed to be another man - one of her friends. But when she said she didnt recognise his voice he got up and walked out of her room. After a five-day hearing, the court martial took just 30 minutes to find the sergeant guilty.

Finnegan, who has served in the Army for more than 21 years, could now face a jail term, dismissal from the services and loss of his pension. He denied the assault and looked ashen-faced as the guilty verdict was delivered.

He then wept as the court martial adjourned sentence until November 12th.

His victim had earlier wept as she told the court of her ordeal.

She had gone to bed alone, but had not locked her door.

I was half-asleep lying on my front and I could feel someone was feeling me with their hands up and down my body, she said.

I said Who is this? and he said I love you, I need you and I want you. He smelled very strongly of drink and sick.

After Finnegan, of 14 Signal Regiment, left the block, the woman looked out of her window and saw him appear below.

She said: He looked up and looked like he didnt have a clue where he was.

He looked pathetic and drunk. There was a blank look on his face. It was then I recognised him as Norman Finnegan and I thought Oh my God. No way.

Finnegan admitted he went into an accommodation block, which he thought was empty, to lie down after a boozy night out. He said he was desperate to find a bed because he felt really sick and was suffering from severe wind.

He felt ill after drinking four glasses of white wine, two sherries, one port and a pint of lager at a formal dinner.

The sergeant said he was shocked when he heard a womans voice say Who the ---- is that? and immediately got up and left the room. He denied slipping his hand under the bed covers and sexually assaulting her.