Royal Navy officer cleared of sexually assaulting Airbnb colleague as she passed out on ‘girls’ holiday’ on £3.5bn HMS Prince of Wales pounds sterling, was docked in Florida.

A Royal Navy officer accused of sexually assaulting a colleague in an AirBnB after a girls’ night out on holiday has been cleared by court martial.

Lieutenant Liam Humphries was accused of “taking full advantage” of the drunken sailor while the £3.5 billion aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales was docked in Florida.

After meeting the sailor at a Daytona Beach nightclub, Lt. Humphries allegedly attacked him while she was passed out at an apartment she was renting with friends.

However, he said what happened between him and the sailor – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was consensual.

At Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, Lieutenant Humphries denied one count of sexual assault by penetration and has now been found not guilty by a committee after a five-day trial.

The court heard the alleged incident happened when the 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier was traveling to the United States.

The ship – one of the most advanced warships in the world – last week became the flagship of the Royal Navy, succeeding its sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth.

In opening the case, prosecutor Colonel Jim Carmichael said the female sailor could not have consented because she was unconscious when the penetration began.

Colonel Carmichael said: “(The victim) was serving on board HMS Prince of Wales, Lieutenant Humphries was also serving on board, he was an education officer.”

“The Prince of Wales docked in Florida, (the victim) and her friends decided to have a girls’ vacation in Daytona Beach. There were also (in town) about 20 to 30 male officers.

“(The victim) and her friends ate pizza and drinks and went to downtown Daytona Beach for a night out.

“Towards the end of the night she went to the bathroom of the nightclub, she doesn’t remember anything between then and waking up in her AirBnB.

“The first thing she remembers is waking up in bed with the defendant penetrating her with his fingers… she had not consented to this.

“The defense is this: he inserted his fingers into her vagina but she consented to this.

“The issue in this case is simple, she could not have consented as she was unconscious at the time.”

The next day, the sailor told friends she thought she had been doped, even though a test at a Florida clinic came back negative, the court heard.

HMS Prince Of Wales is one of the Royal Navy’s most prestigious ships, housing more than 1,500 personnel and up to 48 stealth fighter jets.