Pioneering 24-year-old Royal Navy sailor who once met Princess Anne raped 19-year-old in secluded alcove after ‘preying on lonely, drunk women’ in nightclub

A pioneering Royal Navy sailor who once knew Princess Anne raped a 19-year-old after he “abused single, drunken women” in a nightclub, a court heard.

Sebastine Kava Liliu, 24 – the first Solomon Islander to join the navy – spent two and a half hours “monitoring” the scene at the club to identify women at risk.

The award-winning recruit struck after approaching his “very drunk” victim and luring him out of the nightclub and into a secluded alcove.

Kava Liliu, then a member of the Navy’s logistics department, fled the scene but returned moments later to get his cap, the court heard.

Shocking video footage shows the woman getting to her feet after the sickening attack at around 1.15am on February 11. In what appeared to be a callous regard for his “desperate” victim, Kava Liliu simply took his hat and took a taxi back to his ship. He confessed to the rape at Portsmouth Crown Court last week.

The horrific crime occurred just over a year after he was photographed meeting Princess Anne during a graduation parade at HMS Raleigh, the naval basic training facility in Torpoint, Cornwall, in April 2023.

He was chosen to meet the senior royal – who has held the rank of admiral since 2012 – as he was the first person from the Solomon Islands to join the navy.

But prosecutor Rob Harding told the court that Kava Liliu attacked the young woman just a few metres from the Astoria nightclub in Portsmouth.

He said: “It appears that the defendant was out that evening and intended to lock out an intoxicated woman for his own sexual gratification.”

“The evidence is his predatory behavior and his actions that constitute the crime.”

“The victim had also been outside, having fun and drinking alcohol and was not in a physical condition.”

Kava Liliu is said to have entered the nightclub as a “single man” and “observed the scene” while “harassing single, drunk women”.

“When he realised the victim’s condition, he approached her and eventually managed to get her out of the nightclub,” Mr Harding added.

“To put it simply, he then dragged her into a nearby bush and raped her.”

Mr Harding said the victim was “isolated” and incapacitated by alcohol, which left her “particularly vulnerable”.

Horrifying video footage from before the attack shows Kava Liliu following the woman out of one of the club’s rooms as if he was “stalking his prey,” the prosecutor said.

Video surveillance captured him getting into a taxi that was supposed to take him to the Victory Gate, the entrance to the city’s naval base.

The police managed to catch the rapist because he had given his name to his victim. He was later interrogated and confessed to his crime.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said she still suffers from flashbacks.

“The physical effects are easy to describe,” she said. “I no longer feel comfortable in my own skin.”

“I lost my dignity and my privacy that day.”

“The psychological impact will be hard to comprehend – having fun outside and losing that when you’re at your most vulnerable.”

“Fortunately, I have people around me who love me, care for me and help me, but it is still difficult.”

She said she now suffers from sleepless nights and can no longer go outside in the dark.

But in a defiant address to her rapist, she said: “You may have taken away my faith in the world and my sense of dignity, but not my voice.”

Defending, Robert Bryan said Kava Liliu – who sat with his head bowed as the CCTV footage was shown to the court – “may have singled her out” and that she was “in need of protection”. However, he disagreed with the suggestion that she was “particularly vulnerable”.

He argued that the rape was less planned than the prosecution claimed, saying: “He accepts that she was drunk. To put it very clearly, young people go to nightclubs to meet young people, they do not go to nightclubs to plan an attack.”

Kava Liliu has already received numerous awards for his historic place in the ranks of the Navy, including the prestigious Sapphire Trophy, which is awarded to the recruit who shows the greatest progress during the ten-week basic training.

The Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Martin Connell, congratulated the sailor on X (formerly Twitter) at the time, saying his winning the top prize was “all the more remarkable considering he has traded his home in the Solomon Islands for a career in the Royal Navy”.

The British High Commission in the Solomon Islands praised Kava Liliu for his “outstanding performance” during his naval training, adding that he had “inspired many fellow Solomon Islanders who wish to follow his example”.

Kava Liliu was an active youth member of his local Catholic church before leaving the small South Pacific archipelago and heading to the UK to complete his naval training.

A Royal Navy spokesman said: “The Royal Navy places great importance on ensuring that its personnel maintain the highest possible standards of conduct at all times and takes all reports of behaviour which does not meet Royal Navy standards very seriously.”

“As long as the legal proceedings are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to make further comments.”

A spokesman for Princess Anne declined to comment.

Judge Michael Bowes KC adjourned sentencing until next month.