A pioneering Black Royal Navy sailor, Sebastine Kava Liliu Royal Navy Rapist, who previously encountered Princess Anne, raped a 19-year-old after targeting alone, inebriated women in a nightclub, a court has been informed.
Sebastine Kava Liliu, 24, the inaugural Solomon Islander to enlist in the Navy, dedicated two and a half hours to ‘observing the situation’ in the bar to pinpoint susceptible women.
The acclaimed recruit seized the opportunity after engaging his ‘extremely intoxicated’ victim and enticing her out the nightclub into adjacent foliage.
Sebastine Kava Liliu, a member of the navy’s Logistics section at that time, absconded from the scene but returned shortly thereafter for his cap, as presented in court.
Disturbing CCTV footage depicts the woman rising to her feet following the heinous assault, approximately at 1:15 AM on February 11. Sebastine Kava Liliu, with apparent indifference for his ‘distressed’ victim, merely collected his hat and hailed a taxi back to his vessel. He confessed to rape at Portsmouth Crown Court last week.
The heinous incident occurred slightly over a year after he was captured in a photograph with Princess Anne in April 2023, during a Passing Out Parade at HMS Raleigh, the Navy’s fundamental training establishment in Torpoint, Cornwall.
He was chosen to meet the senior royal, who has held the rank of Admiral since 2012, as the inaugural individual from the Solomon Islands to enlist in the Navy.
Prosecutor Rob Harding informed the court that Sebastine Kava Liliu would subsequently assault the young woman within yards from the Astoria nightclub in Portsmouth.
He said: ‘It would appear the defendant was out that evening, planning on isolating a drunk female for his own sexual gratification.
‘The evidence being his predatory behaviour and his actions which constitute the offence.
‘Also out, was the victim, who had been out enjoying herself and consuming alcohol and was not in a fit state.’
Sebastine Kava Liliu was said to have entered the nightclub as a ‘lone male’ and stood ‘observing the scene’, ‘preying on lone, drunk females’.
‘Recognising the state the victim was in, he approached her and eventually managed to get her out of the nightclub,’ Mr Harding added.
‘Put simply, he then proceeded to take her into nearby bushes and raped her.’
Mr Harding said the victim was ‘isolated’ and incapacitated through drink which made her ‘particularly vulnerable’.
Chilling CCTV footage captured before the attack shows Sebastine Kava Liliu following the woman out of one of the club’s rooms like he was ‘stalking his prey’, the prosecutor said.
He was seen again on CCTV getting in a taxi to take him to Victory Gate, the entrance to the city’s naval base.
Police were able to snare the rapist as he had told his victim his name. He was later interviewed and accepted what he had done.
In her victim impact statement, the woman said she still suffers flashbacks.
‘It is easy to say the physical effects,’ she said, ‘I no longer feel comfortable in my own skin.
‘I lost my dignity and privacy that day.
‘The mental effects are going to be hard to grasp – to be out enjoying yourself and lose that when you are at your most vulnerable.
‘Luckily, I have people around me who love and care for me who will help, but things are still difficult.’
She said she now suffers from sleepless nights and feels she can’t walk outside after dark.
But in a defiant address to her rapist, she said: ‘You may have taken my trust in the world and my sense of dignity, but you haven’t taken my voice.’
In mitigation, Robert Bryan said Sebastine Kava Liliu – who sat with his head down as CCTV footage was played to the court – ‘may have picked her out’ and she was ‘vulnerable’, but disagreed she was ‘particularly vulnerable’.
Arguing that the rape was less pre-planned than the prosecution alleged, he said: ‘He accepts she was drunk. To put it bluntly, young people go to nightclubs to meet young people, they don’t go to nightclubs planning an attack.’
Sebastine Kava Liliu previously won plaudits for his history-making place among navy ranks, including the prestigious Sapphire Trophy, which is given to the recruit showing the most progress over the 10-week basic training course.
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 given that he swapped his home in the Solomon Islands for a career in the Royal Navy’.
The British High Commission in the Soloman Islands praised Sebastine Kava Liliu for his ‘outstanding performance’ during his naval training, adding he had ‘inspired many fellow Solomon Islanders who are looking to follow suit’.
Sebastine Kava Liliu was an active youth member of his local Catholic church before he left the small archipelago in the South Pacific for the UK and his naval training.
A Royal Navy spokesman said: ‘The Royal Navy places great importance on maintaining the highest possible standards of behaviour from its personnel at all times and any reports of behaviour that fall short of the Service’s standards are taken very seriously.
‘Whilst legal proceedings are ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further.’
A spokesman for Princess Anne declined to comment.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.