A British Army Gurkha cleared of sexually assaulting a female colleague at Sandhurst military academy was warned he must “not get drunk and go into women’s bedrooms” by a judge.

Rifleman Sujan Gurung confused the woman by banging on her door in the early hours and pretending he was another soldier with whom she had sex the week before.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told police that in the dark she initially could not tell who it was because “they are all Gurkhas and they all look the same”.

Drunk on Jägermeister

On Friday at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, Rfn Gurung wept as he was acquitted of three counts of sexual assault.

The married soldier claimed he could not remember touching the woman because he was drunk on Jägermeister at the time.

In court, Judge Advocate Jane England interrupted his weeping to say: “Rifleman Gurung, you’ve been acquitted. Some may say you’re relatively content with that.

“But you got very drunk indeed and you really don’t know what you did, do you?

“I hope that’s a lesson to you. You can’t get drunk and go into other people’s rooms, in particular females’ rooms.”

The three-day trial heard allegations Rfn Gurung had kissed the woman and touched her sexually when he went to her room.

Could not remember

Rfn Gurung, who joined the British Army in 2017 and served in Afghanistan, told the court: “I’m not sure exactly how much I drank, but I had a lot.”

Asked if he had kissed or touched the woman inappropriately in any way, he said he had not as far as he could remember, but accepted he might have touched her breast accidentally while gesturing with his hand.

Matthew Bolt, defending, suggested the female soldier had been “exaggerating” the encounter because she was worried about getting into trouble for her actions the day after.

He said: “In fearing the repercussions you exaggerated what happened… because you wanted to protect yourself.”

The female soldier adamantly denied this.

Rfn Gurung, of 1 Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles, was cleared of all charges following deliberations by the board that lasted almost three hours.