Army Corporal who was accused of groping two female colleagues is cleared of sexual assault
- Corporal Andrew Cline denied squeezing the bottom of one female soldier
- The 34-year-old also denied putting his hand on the breast of another soldier
- He was found not guilty on both charges at Bulford Military Court, Wilts.
An Army Corporal accused of squeezing the bottom of one female soldier and groping another’s breast as she changed a tank transporter’s tyres has been cleared of sexual assault.
Corporal Andrew Cline insisted he had put his hand on the first soldier’s back as he pushed past her in the narrow pit below the vehicle, a court martial heard.
Cpl Cline – who serves with the Second Signal Regiment – was accused of reaching over the second female soldier’s shoulder and touching her right breast in a maintenance hanger while they were changing a vehicle’s tyres the following day.
The 34-year-old denied both charges and has been cleared of two counts of sexual assault at Bulford Military Court, Wilts.
Corporal Andrew Cline, 34, was accused of grabbing a female soldier’s bottom – but has been cleared
Corporal Cline was accused of reaching over a second female soldier’s shoulder and touching her right breast – he has also been found not guilty of this charge
The trial heard the first woman had been completing a course at the time.
Cpl Cline had been assessing her work as part of a test when the incident was alleged to have happened, the court heard.
The woman told the hearing she felt it was ‘important’ to report it because she was one of very few women ‘in a male environment.’
He told a court he briefly put his hand on the small of her back to squeeze past her because of the narrow width of the pit they were working in.
The two women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, decided to report the alleged incidents after having lunch together on the day of the second alleged incident, the court heard.
But Cpl Cline denied sexually assaulting either woman.
He was found not guilty on both charges.
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