Military ‘must stop alcohol abuse’ after rape acquittal

THE Armed Services need to do more to address drinking because it can lead to offences, a military judge said as a married British colonel was cleared of rape.

Lt Col Benedict Tomkins, 49, of Defence, Equipment and Support, was cleared of the single count of rape against a subordinate at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, Uganda, in 2015.

But a board of senior officers lambasted him for “embarrassing” the service as they found him not guilty.

Judge Advocate General Jeff Blackett added: “I would like to put it on record that too many offences occur because of the abuse of alcohol. More needs to be done by the services to address this issue.”

Lt Col Tomkins told Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, that the sex had been consensual.

Brigadier Paul Tennant, the president of the board, said: “Despite unanimously and overwhelmingly reaching a finding of not guilty, we have been similarly united in our corporate embarrassment by the conduct of the defendant.”

He said the board felt the colonel’s behaviour “fell wholly and demonstrably short of what we would expect”.