Army officer rape charge in transatlantic court martial

A MARRIED British Army officer raped an intoxicated junior colleague after a drink-fuelled UN event, an unprecedented transatlantic court martial has heard.

Lt Col Benedict Tomkins, 49, attacked the woman in her room at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, Uganda, the trial in the US was told.

Joint Base Andrews in Maryland heard yesterday that Lt Col Tomkins told investigators the sex was consensual but admitted “it wasn’t rose petals or cupid’s arrows, it was fairly animal”.

It is the first ever court martial that will be held on both sides of the Atlantic in a move that allows witnesses to give evidence in the US before the court resumes in the UK next week.

Lt Col Tomkins, who appeared in court in uniform and is based at Abbey Wood, near Bristol, is alleged to have raped the woman following an African UN conference on January 7, 2015.

Timothy Bradbury, prosecuting, said: “It appears to have been very much a social function and one in which alcohol was freely available.” In a police interview played to court, the complainant said he became “very aggressive” and “took control” when she declined his advances.

“I just remember him being on my bed and looking at him on top of me having sex with me,” she said.

“The room was spinning, it was a very brief memory.”

She woke up in the morning and he was gone. They later exchanged messages and he thanked her for a “wonderful evening”, the court heard.

It was only weeks after the incident that she saw a psychiatrist and made a report to the FBI.

Mr Bradbury told the court Lt Col Tomkins brushed off the allegations during his interview.

“He said the allegations were malicious and was made up by [the complainant] to avoid her own professional shortcomings,” the prosecutor said.

Lt Col Tomkins denies one count of rape. The trial is expected to head to Bulford, Wiltshire, on Monday.