Wren suffered `Chinese torture'

A former Wren became clinically depressed after a "Chinese torture" of sexual harassment and bullying from Navy colleagues, a psychiatrist told an industrial tribunal yesterday.

Dr David Enoch, a consultant psychiatrist who treated Lesley Morris, 23, in March 1996 - 10 months after she had left the Navy - said: "The constant sexual harassment and bullying were a massive precipitant in her depression. In my view it will take a long time for it to fade and will be a source of vulnerability for the rest of her life."

Miss Morris, from Shotton, near Chester, was discharged from the Navy in May 1995 as "temperamentally unsuitable" after she took an overdose of paracetamol tablets. She is claiming constructive dismissal from the service.

Dr Enoch, emeritus consultant psychiatrist at the Royal Liverpool Teaching Hospital, said the underlying feelings of failure at having to leave the Navy would be with Miss Morris for a long time.

The Manchester tribunal heard that she had been mentally scarred by her experiences. But Dr Enoch admitted that other factors may also have contributed to her depression.

"There were other reasons, but the main reason was this Chinese torture. It was constant humiliation. It was made worse by the fact that she wanted to be in the Navy and wanted to stay in the Navy," he said.

The case continues.