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Major General Who Carried Prince Philip’s Coffin Gets Suspended Sentence For Drunken Kiss

major-general-who-carried-prince-philip’s-coffin-gets-suspended-sentence-for-drunken-kiss

Major General Who Carried Prince Philip’s Coffin Gets Suspended Sentence For Drunken Kiss

A Major General who was a pallbearer at Prince Philip’s funeral has been dismissed from the Army after trying to kiss a female colleague on a drunken night out.

James Roddis, a married father-of-three, “inappropriately” touched the hair of a female RAF officer before kissing her on the lips without consent.

He was formally dismissed from the Armed Forces on Wednesday after admitting to disgraceful conduct of an indecent kind.

Roddis has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. He has also been ordered to complete 30 days of rehabilitation, carry out 150 hours unpaid work, and pay his victim £2,500 in compensation.

Judge Advocate General Alan Large told him: “The kiss and touching of the victim was clearly an indecent act and your conduct was persistent, to a degree.

“This was an escalating course of indecent conduct and when you grabbed her face and kissed her you intended to do just that.”

The incident has cost Roddis his career in the military. He received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the UK’s highest award for leadership in combat, two Queen’s commendations and a Mention in Dispatches after for his service in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Roddis and his colleagues were off duty in Japan when the incident occurred.

Prosecutor Graham Coombes said a “substantial quantity of alcohol was consumed” at the karaoke bar where Roddis assaulted his female colleague.

He added: “By the time the group headed to the karaoke bar, the complainant accepted that she was drunk and it became apparent that the accused was drunk.”

Describing the incident, Mr Coombes continued: “He begins to touch and inappropriately touch and play with her hair and touch her ponytail before putting his arm around her.

“She turns to the accused and asks him to stop. She turns towards him and raises her finger appealing to him to stop. She says she didn’t know what else to do to stop him touching her hair.

“The accused continues to touch her and pulls the bobble out causing her hair to roll down and he says to her that ‘her hair looks better down’.

“You can see her raise her eyes and indicate her displeasure.”

The moment Roddis grabbed and kissed the officer was not caught on camera.

Mr Coombes added: “Shortly afterward, as a result of what the accused had done, she left the bar with another member of the group.

“She says she felt really angry and was upset about what had happened.

“The victim was carrying out her duties.

“She attended the social event as part of her duties and was expected to attend the final night.

“The defendant was in a position of responsibility and trust. The offences took place in public.”

The complainant said in a statement that her “main concern is how powerless I was that night. It has left me feeling vulnerable.”

Jane Bickerstaff KC, defending, said Roddis has been diagnosed with alcohol dependency.

She said: “He has been through a formal disciplinary process and his commission has been revoked.

“He is not allowed to refer to himself as having been a major general in the Army.

“This conduct taking place over a few minutes has resulted in the loss of a career that he spent 30 years building – a distinguished career in which he has received a number of citations.

“You will appreciate that he has lost not only his career but the future potential prospects of that career.

“When one appreciates, as James Roddis does, that one only has one’s self to blame, it is a bitter pill to swallow.”

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