Top army officer James Roddis who carried Prince Philip’s coffin given suspended prison sentence for ‘unacceptable behaviour’

A former army major general has been given a suspended prison sentence for his indecent behaviour.

Major General James Roddis, 53, was dismissed from the army and given a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years by a court martial board.

Roddis, who was one of the men to carry Prince Philip’s coffin at the royal funeral in 2021, had admitted a charge of disgraceful conduct of an indecent kind.

He had been required to resign from the army in May following a misconduct process, but was also formally dismissed from the military by the court martial board.

The board also ordered Roddis to complete 30 days of rehabilitation and 150 hours unpaid work and pay his victim £2,500 compensation.

‘Disgraceful conduct’

The married father-of-three had been drinking for several hours on an overseas trip in April this year when he started touching the hair of the woman before kissing her on the lips, the court martial was told.

Imposing sentence, Judge Advocate General Alan Large said: “As we’ve seen from the video over a period of some minutes you began touching her hair and you put your arm around her.

“She was clearly not interested in your attention. You then pulled her hair bobble out.

“It was apparent from another person at the table that the victim was uncomfortable about that.

“This was only a few minutes after your physical attention started. About 10 minutes later you put your hand on her chin, pull her head towards your lips, and kiss her on her lips for about two seconds.

“The disgraceful conduct in your charge encompasses both the unwanted touching of her hair and the kiss.”

Jane Bickerstaff KC, defending, said Roddis had recently been diagnosed with alcohol dependency, having turned to drink as a “stress release” as he struggled to balance his career with difficulties in his family life.

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An army spokesperson said: “This unacceptable behaviour by ex-Major General Roddis fell well below the high standards expected of both our leaders and personnel and has no place in our Armed Forces.

“We recognise the courage shown by the victim in reporting this matter and are working to ensure victims feel empowered to come forward and are properly supported when they do.

“We’re determined to stamp out unacceptable behaviour, which is why we’re taking forward a number of initiatives to ensure the Armed Forces are a safe environment, such as improving reporting mechanisms and the introduction of an application to raise concerns – but we recognise there’s more to do and we are committed to making further improvements.”

Until recently, he was director of strategy for Strategic Command, an organisation comprising special forces and intelligence units among other responsibilities.

During his military career, Roddis received a number of accolades, including the Distinguished Service Order, an award given for highly successful command and leadership during active operations.

He was made an MBE and earned two Queen’s Commendations for Valuable Service in 2008 and 2017.

Until recently he was director of strategy for Strategic Command, an organisation comprised of special forces and intelligence units.