Distinguished war hero ex-Major General James Roddis was decorated by the late Queen and even carried the Duke of Edinburgh’s coffin in 2021. Today he was sentenced for disgraceful conduct
A high-ranking army officer who helped carry Prince Philip’s coffin has admitted disgraceful conduct after playing with a woman’s hair and kissing her without consent.
Ex-Major General James Roddis, who is one of the most senior army officers to be court-martialled in the last 200 years, was today sentenced to six months’ imprisonment suspended for two years. He had faced a charge of sexual assault but admitted the lesser charge of disgraceful conduct of an indecent kind at the Bulford Military Court Centre in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in July.
His plea was accepted by the Service Prosecuting Authority and the alternative charge of sexual assault under Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 was not put. The particulars state: “On April 12. 2024 without her consent he repeatedly played with the hair before kissing her on the lips.”
Shortly after midnight at a karaoke bar, a member of the party was filming the filling of a champagne fountain and in the background Roddis can be seen touching the complainant’s hair and she indicates with her finger for him to stop. The court heard the kiss was not captured on film but the lead up to it was.
“He begins to touch and inappropriately touch and play with her hair and touch her ponytail before putting his arm around her,” Graham Coombes, prosecuting, said.
Mr Coombes added: “We have taken into account the seriousness of the offence and the live issue of consent and taken into account the views of the complainant. She has indicated she is content for it to be a disgraceful conduct count. The plea is on a full facts basis, and it is accepted the complainant did not consent at any point to the behaviour.”
Roddis received a number of accolades during his military career, including a Distinguished Service Order, and was made an MBE. He also earned two Queen’s Commendations for Valuable Service in 2008 and 2017. He was also a pallbearer at the late Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral in 2021. Until recently, he was director of strategy for Strategic Command – an organisation comprised of special forces and intelligence units.