General is the first special forces chief in military history to be charged with sexual assault

A former senior army officer and married father of three is due to appear before a military court later this month to face charges of sexual assault by touching, an army spokesman said.

Former Major General James Roddis, who was awarded the British Order of Merit (MBE) in 2009, is due to appear before the military court in Bulford on July 17. He is charged under Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The 52-year-old apparently voluntarily left the army in recent months.

The senior officer received a number of awards throughout his military career, including a Distinguished Service Order for highly successful command and leadership and two Queen’s Commendations for Valuable Service in 2008 and 2017.

Roddis also worked alongside King Charles on a voluntary basis as Deputy Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Until recently, he was Director of Strategy for Strategic Command, an organisation that includes special forces and intelligence units.

In 2014, Roddis was commander of the Highlanders – troops from the 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland – which was then the last Scottish battalion to see combat in Afghanistan. In 2017, he founded the Army’s elite Specialised Infantry Brigade.

Senior officers are rarely court-martialled, but in 2021, former Major General Nick Welch was convicted of fraud in March 2021 and sentenced to 21 months in prison for falsely claiming over £48,000 in allowances for his children’s boarding school fees. Welch faced a four-week trial at the same venue and was at the time the highest-ranking officer to face a court-martial since 1815. However, there are no previous known cases of generals being charged with sexual offences, making General James Roddis the first in military history.

In light of the charges, an Army spokesman said: “We expect very high standards of conduct from all our personnel and take all allegations of misconduct extremely seriously. Former Major General James Roddis will appear at Bulford Military Court Centre on 17 July 2024 charged with sexual assault under Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. We will make no further comment while the legal proceedings are ongoing.”