Essex firefighter 'assaulted with frozen sausage'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-33571848

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A firefighter was indecently assaulted with a frozen sausage by colleagues, a court has been told.

Crew members at Tilbury station in Essex were subjected to degrading "initiations" and "pranks" during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Basildon Crown Court heard.

Anthony Benham, 50, of Stanford-le Hope, and Ian Maguire, 55, of Benfleet, deny indecent assault.

They also deny 10 counts of false imprisonment between 1988 and 1997.

One firefighter, who cannot be named for legal reasons, described to the jury how several of his colleagues assaulted him with a frozen sausage.

"My hands and feet were held to prevent me from kicking and lashing out," he added.

He told the jury he thought it was "intended to humiliate and knock you down a little bit".

"It was just another little prank that I put down to experience," he added.

'Jeering and shouting'

In another incident he was left tied to a ladder outdoors in winter, naked and soaked in freezing water.

He said: "There was an atmosphere of excitement, people were jeering and shouting. It was quite apparent they were having a great time stitching someone up.

"I didn't want them to do it - I would have been hitting out verbally, but it didn't do any good."

The witness said it was "degrading" and that members of the public could have seen him while he was naked.

He was subjected to other incidents of verbal and physical abuse on a regular basis, the court was told.

"It was a very unpleasant environment to work in - intimidating, demoralising - and it ground me down," he added.

The trial continues.