A HIGHLY decorated military intelligence chief is facing jail for groping a female officer.
Lt Col Benedict Stephens — honoured by the late Queen for his bravery in Afghanistan — attacked a rookie NCO after a boozy night out in Dubai.
3
Stephens, 44, downed four pints, six cocktails and six shots while off duty from his placement with British Defence Staff.
As he left a restaurant he told the woman: “I want you.”
As he assaulted her, he asked: “Are you intimidated by me?”
Stephens claimed he was had been so drunk he could not remember the incident — but insisted he would not have attacked his victim because she was not his type.
However, he was convicted by a military court — leaving his glittering career in ruins.
He was awarded the prized Queen’s Gallantry Medal in 2011 for his attempt to save comrades after their Ridgeback armoured vehicle plunged into a 20ft-deep canal in Helmand.
Stephens held his breath for two minutes before managing to escape — then dived back down five times to try to rescue others as a ferocious firefight raged nearby.
Four soldiers died in the 2010 incident but Stephens, a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, returned to frontline duty with 1st Battalion, The Mercian Regiment after 14 days in hospital.
The trauma exacerbated a drinking problem he had since 2004, the court in Catterick, North Yorks, heard.
In April 17 last year, he went for drinks with the woman officer and another Lt Col.
As they left at about 11pm, the other Lt Col went to the toilet.
The victim reluctantly linked Stephens’ arm after he offered it to her several times.
She later told police: “He was flexing his biceps. I thought, ‘That is a bit weird’.
“He was laughing and then he reached out a hand and touched me on the front of my jeans in a private area.”
Stephens, also honoured by by Denmark, Somalia and the US and now holding the rank of Major, denied sexual assault but was found guilty by a panel of officers.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
Judge Advocate Edward Legard told Stephens, from Essex: “I make no promises as to what the outcome will be.”
3
3
