Army Officer Faces Unprecedented Trial In The US

A married British Army officer dismissed a junior colleague's claim that he raped her when she was drunk, an unprecedented trans-Atlantic court martial has heard.

Lieutenant Colonel Benedict Tomkins, of Defence, Equipment and Support, says they had consensual but "fairly animal" sex.

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.

The high-ranking officer allegedly attacked the woman at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, Uganda, following an African UN conference.

In a police interview played to the court and the jury of seven British Army officers, the complainant said she was standing by her laptop when he approached and "instantly" began unzipping her dress.

She said he became "very aggressive" and "took control" when she declined his advances and pushed him away.

The complainant said when she woke up to her alarm in the morning and the officer was gone. That day he wrote to her thanking her for a "fun and memorable evening" and she replied thanking him, adding it had been "wonderful".

She told investigators she feared reporting the incident or making a scene would harm her career. She said:

"The idea of being a woman in a man's world, you don't want to raise issues, you want to be professional and do your job."

Weeks after the incident, plagued by anxiety and insomnia, she saw a psychiatrist and made a report to the FBI.

The trial was initially moved to the US to enable the defendant to give evidence.

The trial is expected to head to the UK, in Bulford Wiltshire, on Monday 22, after the prosecution's witnesses. It is the first time such a trial has taken place in two countries.