A captain in an elite has been convicted of drunkenly punching and shouting "f**k off" at a senior officer who tried to stop him getting run over.
The Army Colonel found Captain Graham Hartshorne drunkenly stumbling around on a 60mph A-road after a boozy summer ball at the base that is home to the SAS. A court martial heard the 38-year-old was at the high-ranking Good Samaritan and telling him and his wife to 'f**k off'.
After a two-day trial he was found guilty of one count of misconduct through alcohol following the incident in July 2023. Capt Hartshorne is part of the Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Munitions and Search Training Regiment (DEMS Training Regiment).
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The unit trains Army and Navy personnel to search for and safely dispose of explosives. Bulford Military Court, Wilts, heard Capt Hartshorne left the summer ball at Credenhill Camp, Herefordshire, and turned onto a path just outside the Camp but struggled to get home because he was drunk.
Credenhill Camp is also known as Stirling Lines and is the home of the SAS. 'Colonel A' and his wife, who have anonymity for security reasons, said they first came across Capt Hartshorne while he was lying on the grass at the side of the road but they then saw him get up and start walking in the road.
Col A told the court he feared Capt Hartshorne would be run over on the A-road, with cars typically driving along it at 60mph. The pair approached him and tried to help him off the road but he allegedly swung punches at them and told them to 'f**k off'.
Col A told him he was a commanding officer to try and get him to stop and he managed to get hold of Capt Hartshorne to keep him safe until military police arrived. Prosecuting, Captain Helen Broadbridge said Capt Hartshorne would have been 'worse off' if Col A and his wife had not intervened.
Capt Broadbridge said: "In the early hours... he was drinking alcohol at a summer ball. He was making his way from camp to the path, he was struggling under the interference of the alcohol. A commanding officer and his wife saw Capt Hartshorne in the road, they were concerned for his safety, they wanted to help him out of the road. He responded by telling them to 'f off', swinging punches and ran down the A road."
She continued: "It is not a complex case, the Crown says his behaviour was disorderly and due to the influence of alcohol. Col A was at the time a commanding officer, he and Captain Hartshorne did not know each other before that night. He did this to people trying to help him, you might think he would be worse off if they had not attended to him." Giving evidence, Col A said he feared Capt Hartshorne would be run over if they left him on the road.
He said: "My first impression was that he had had a lot to drink and he had come from the party, he was on the grass motionless. He got up and stumbled into the road, my wife was extremely concerned.
"I did not want him to get run over. He started to get aggressive, swinging punches at myself as I was walking along. The first time he started swinging two punches hit me on the back of the head. He was putting himself in a very vulnerable and dangerous position."
Barrister Matthew Bolt, defending Capt Hartshorne, suggested that the officer running away indicated he was scared of Col A. Mr Bolt said: "A fair inference was he did not want you near him. This situation was started by you approaching him when he did not want to be approached." Capt Hartshorne pleaded not guilty but was convicted of the offence by a panel. He will be sentenced at a later date.
