Army colonel, 57, accused of sexually assaulting female officer
Army colonel, 57, accused of sexually assaulting female officer in ski resort hotel ‘ordered her to give him a goodnight kiss before groping her bottom in front of colleagues’
- A female Army officer claims Colonel Martin Toney sexually assaulted her
- The woman claimed it happened during a ski training camp in Dombås, Norway
- She said: ‘I will always remember the feeling of his hand upon me’
- Col Toney, who has 36-years service in the British Army, says it did not happen
A female Army officer told a court martial of her horror when a Colonel ‘ordered’ her to give him a goodnight kiss and then rubbed her backside in a room full of other ranks.
The woman has accused her former boss, Colonel Martin Toney, 57, of sexual assault in a function room at the Trolltun Guesthouse hotel in the ski resort of Dombås, Norway, when Col Toney was a lieutenant colonel.
She claimed the assault happened during the final evening of the Army Medical Service’s Nordic Ski Championships in December 2012.
Challenged about her memories of what happened with Col Toney, who has 36 years service in the British Army, she said: ‘I will always remember the feeling of his hand upon me.’
The court martial heard that the alleged incident happened during a drinks party after an all-ranks meal of Scandinavian delicacies to round off the ski training camp.
Colonel Martin Toney, who has a 36-year career in the Army, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a room full of colleagues
The former major, who cannot be named, claims she was ‘completely sober’ during the festivities because alcohol was very expensive and not many people were drinking.
After an hour or so she said wanted ‘to politely leave to go and pack’ and Col Toney, sitting alone in a conference chair, was the most senior officer in the room, if not the only other officer.
She said: ‘So out of politeness I went to say goodbye to him. He said, “Give me a kiss goodbye,” and I felt completely flummoxed by that.
‘We did not have the type of relationship where I would give him a kiss goodbye.
‘It was very much phrased as a command.
‘I thought it would be rude not to so I bent over to give him a cheek to cheek kiss goodbye. But he turned and met it and kissed his lips.
‘He then put his hand on my bottom and rubbed it all over with a fair amount of force. It was not a fleeting touch. This was a thorough feel of my bottom.’
She was wearing a knitted cotton Nordic style dress which was warm but ‘not that thick’.
Col Toney was a lieutenant colonel when at the ski resort of Dombås, Norway, pictured (file photo)
She continued: ‘It felt like it went on for a long time. It was only 10 to 15 seconds but it felt like at least a minute.
‘He thoroughly groped my bottom.’
She felt his hand ‘moving in a fairly leisurely fashion’. ‘I was just frozen during this,’ she added.
‘I felt so humiliated. I just wanted to get out of the room as quickly as possible.
‘I felt humiliated, degraded, and confused. I would normally tell someone to f**k off. But I can’t tell him to f**k off because he is a senior officer.
‘He had decades of military experience.
‘I am not some naïve 18-year-old, it is not the first time I have had inappropriate sexual contact – but it was the only time with a senior officer.’
The hearing, at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, expected to conclude tomorrow, continues. Pictured is the Single Living Accommodation blocks (file photo)
She had experienced ‘mess high jinks’ but this was different partly because it happened in a room full of more junior soldiers which she said made it ‘a lot worse’.
She added: ‘My rank meant nothing because it was fine to treat me as an object.’
She was also in a relationship at the time and did not want anyone to think she was cheating on her partner.
After she told a female colleague what happened Col Toney was interviewed by police under caution but denied anything untoward had happened at all.
Giving evidence this afternoon, the 57-year-old Colonel denied the alleged incident at the Trolltun Hotel ever happened.
He was a the senior officer at the adventure training camp and the director of the exercise, where 64 recruits were involved in two weeks of cross country skiing.
He said he had attended the event for 12 years and could not recall any of the final dinners ending on a ‘sour’ note, which he would remembered as they were always ‘jolly occasions’.
The former major, who cannot be named, claims she was ‘completely sober’ during the festivities because alcohol was very expensive and not many people were drinking. Pictured is the sign welcoming drivers into the military town of Catterick Garrison (file photo)
He said: ‘It did not happen. It is not something I would do.
‘I do not know why she is saying it. I did not do it.’
Defending barrister David Richards told his alleged victim during cross-examination: ‘You knew a lieutenant colonel could not order you to give him a kiss.’
She replied: ‘It felt like an order.
‘He thought he had a right to touch me because he was more senior than me. That is what happened.’
The hearing, expected to conclude tomorrow at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, continues.
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