Major General touched and kissed woman while drunk, court martial heard

Major General James Roddis had already been drinking for several hours when he began touching the woman's hair before kissing her on the lips.

At a court martial in Bulford (Wiltshire), it was revealed that the delegation was on the last night of its overseas trip in April this year.

The court was told that Roddis was forced to resign from the army in July following an investigation into misconduct.

The married father of three children had previously admitted to the accusation of inappropriate conduct and appeared in court again for the verdict.

Prosecutor Graham Coombes said that the delegation had taken part in a local tradition while off duty and had two hours of unlimited drinking before going to a restaurant and finally to a karaoke bar where they had a few glasses of champagne.

“The plaintiff admits that she was drunk and it turns out that the defendant was also drunk,” said Mr Coombes.

Shortly after midnight, a member of the group filmed the filling of a champagne fountain. In the background, Roddis can be seen touching the plaintiff's hair and gesturing with his finger to stop.

The court heard that the kiss was not filmed, but the time before it was.

“He starts touching her inappropriately, touching her hair, playing with it and touching her ponytail before putting his arm around her,” Mr Coombes said.

“She turns to the defendant and tells him to stop. She turns to him and tells him to stop with her finger raised. She says she didn't know what else to do to stop him from touching her hair.

“You can see her raising her eyes and expressing her displeasure.”

A few minutes later, Roddis puts his hands on her chin and kisses her on the lips for about two seconds.

“She says this was completely unprompted and without warning,” said Mr Coombes.

Mr Coombes told the court that the woman later sent her husband a message telling him: “Just because you're a two-star general doesn't mean you can touch me.”

The next day, on the flight home, the woman asked to speak to Roddis privately and told him that his behavior the previous evening had been unacceptable.

“The defendant apologized and replied, 'I must resign,'” Coombes said.

“The defendant asked her if she intended to file a formal complaint and if so, to inform him, as he would then have to resign.”

The court heard that this was the second similar incident involving Roddis' conduct for which he was punished with the loss of his seniority.

Two female officers had complained about his conduct after an incident in 2023, also abroad, in which he asked “questions of a sexual nature” and “touched one of the women in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.”

Due to a court decision, the identity of the complainant cannot be established.

The verdict against Roddis will be decided by a court martial consisting of three senior officers under the supervision of Attorney General Alan Large.

The chairman was an air marshal in the Royal Air Force and they sat with a major general in the Army and a commodore in the Royal Navy.