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A British Army officer has been locked up for groping a female soldier's thigh and 'grabbing' her breast in a taxi following a night out clubbing.
Warrant Officer class 2 Paul Stafford sexually assaulted the Lance Corporal on the way back from a nightclub and then tried to take her back to the mess with him, a court martial heard.
WO2 Stafford, of the Royal Tank Regiment, denied sliding his hand under her dress and claimed he fell asleep in the taxi so nothing inappropriate happened.
Warrant Officer Paul Stafford, pictured at Bulford Military Court, was found guilty of sexually assaulting a female Lance Corporal following a night out in Pembroke
Stafford, 40, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan claimed he could not remember what happened in the back of the taxi
But the 40 year old, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was convicted of sexual assault following a trial at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire in August.
He has now lost his rank and was sentenced to 60 days detention at the same court, but he was not dismissed from the military.
The female Lance Corporal, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the trial she had been to a pub with colleagues in Pembroke before heading to a nightclub shortly before midnight.
WO2 Stafford was in that club and she said they all left together in a seven
