Doubt over naked RAF deputy’s military future as ‘discussions’ are held over his behaviour
Doubt over naked RAF deputy’s military future as ‘discussions’ are held over whether his behaviour was ‘appropriate’
Air Marshal Andrew Turner, 54, was reported for roaming naked in his gardenThe incident, which happened in August 2021, was because of the heat, he saidDiscussions are being held over the distinguished RAF Officer’s military future Thames Valley Police have not brought charges for the incident in Oxfordshire
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A top RAF officer accused by neighbours of parading naked through his garden is facing ‘discussions’ over his future in the military, it was claimed yesterday.
Air Marshal Andrew Turner, 54, was not arrested or charged but instead told to write a letter of apology to his shocked neighbours in Cane End, Oxfordshire.
Thames Valley Police confirmed yesterday that in August they responded to reports of a ‘public order incident’ involving Mr Turner, who is said to have been suspended from duty a fortnight ago.
An RAF source told The Daily Telegraph that ‘discussions were being held’ over whether this was ‘appropriate behaviour from someone in the military’.
Simon Herbert, 54, said he and his partner were shocked after spotting a nude figure near the boundary of his garden.
Air Marshal Andrew Turner, 54, is facing ‘discussions’ over his future in the military after he was accused by neighbours of parading around naked in his garden in August 2021
Mr Herbert claimed Thames Valley Police said that Mr Turner ‘admitted to being naked but said it was because he was hot’.
Mr Turner is said to object to the way in which the incident has been characterised.
His solicitor called the claims ‘vexatious’.
The Crown Prosecution Service said yesterday: ‘This individual was treated as any other would have been, in accordance with our legal test. Following detailed consideration it was decided in agreement with police that a community resolution was appropriate.’
A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said its ‘officers were called following reports of a public order incident which occurred at a property in Cane End, Oxfordshire on 10 August last year.
Simon Herbert, 54, said he and his partner were shocked after spotting the nude RAF officer near the boundary of his garden. Pictured: the neighbour’s property (left) and Air Marshal Andrew Turner’s house (right)
‘Officers investigated thoroughly. Given the nature of the incident, following an investigation in which the suspect and the aggrieved were spoken to at length, and following discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service, it was decided that the most appropriate course of action would be to issue a community resolution order.
‘This was issued to a 54-year-old man on Wednesday 9 February.’
An RAF spokesman said: ‘We are aware of a matter involving a RAF Officer, which has been subject to a police investigation.
The officer has been suspended from duty without prejudice.’
As the service’s ‘Deputy Commander Capability’, Turner is in charge of making sure the Service ‘can deliver air and space power for the nation and project power and influence around the World’.
He is one of just two Air Marshals standing in rank below Air Chief Marshall Sir Mike Wigston, and has served in a plethora of conflict zones.
Yesterday it emerged Turner told investigators he only bent over to ‘pick up a tennis ball for his dogs’.
But Mr Herbert said: ‘I feel like he’s gotten away with it because of who he is. If it was the other way round, I’d have been arrested and charged with indecent behaviour straight away.
‘But I think it’s been swept under the carpet because of his very senior role within the RAF.
‘He wrote us a letter as a result of the community resolution but it was a very mealy-mouthed apology.
‘In the letter he just apologised for causing ‘any inadvertent and absolutely unintentional upset’.
‘He even apparently told police that he didn’t bare his bottom at me but was in fact bending over to pick up a tennis ball for his dog. And the reason why he’d taken off his clothes was because he was hot.’
Mr Herbert’s partner Leslie Stevens, 52, and her 18-year-old daughter were left ‘really upset’ by the incident, which happened in August last year.
The family say they now feel uncomfortable using a hot tub they bought only a few weeks before the incident, and claim there have since been further disagreements with Mr Turner and his wife Catherine, a teacher.
They plan to appeal against the community resolution.
Correspondence seen by the Daily Mail showed Thames Valley Police’s Detective Sergeant Ed Horley telling Mr Herbert, who runs an animal sanctuary on his property, that ‘Mr Turner has accepted the community resolution and the conditions we discussed. Therefore, please expect a written letter of apology to be forthcoming’.
But the family say the letter, addressed to Mr Herbert, Mrs Stevens and her eldest daughter dated 10 February 2022, was only signed by a squiggly monogram, rather than Air Marshal Turner’s name, and did not admit how upsetting his behaviour had been, leading them to believe he was trying ‘duck responsibility’.
In a witness statement, Mr Herbert recounted how he was working on a fence when his partner rang him and told him to look over into his neighbour’s paddock. He claimed: ‘I was about 30 metres from Andrew at this point and only had him in my view for a second or so long, enough to realise it was Andrew and he was naked.’
He said he was shocked and left ‘wondering if there were any children in the area who may come across Andrew naked’.
He continued: ‘Andrew was still in the same corner of his paddock and as I approached, I could see his face as he turned towards me and had a look of shock or surprise. I could see that Andrew was fully naked not even wearing shoes.’
The statement claims: ‘Andrew just looked at me and did not reply. His hands remained down by his side and he just turned away from me and started walking slowly back up his paddock towards his house and garden.’
His partner Mrs Stevens claimed in her statement: ‘As I looked across our garden I could see a naked body at the bottom of Andrew Turner’s paddock near to the three bar wooden fence I mentioned. At first I could not believe what I was seeing and my mind straight away assumed the person was an intruder.’
She added later: ‘I feel very stressed about the whole incident … I no longer feel comfortable when I come outside…’
Meanwhile, a glittering military biography on the RAF website recounts how Mr Turner studied at Oxford, and as a helicopter pilot has 5,100 flying hours on 87 types of aircraft, including in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was made an OBE in 2003, CBE in 2010 and Companion of the Order of Bath in 2019. He rows and enjoys polo and rugby.
A solicitor for Mr Turner said the claims were inaccurate and ‘vexatious’. He emphasised that none of the allegations had been prosecuted despite the claims being ‘the subject of a lengthy police investigation and review by CPS’.
