Household Cavalry corporal, 45, 'slapped the bottom of teenage female recruit on night out' leaving his 28 year Army career in tatters
Experienced Corporal of Horse Steven Henderson's behaviour in twice smacking the 19-year-old female twice after joining in with young trainees' 'partying' was 'outrageous', a judge said.
'An experienced, senior NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) can't expect to lay hands on young female recruits in this way and have people be anything other than outraged,' Assistant Judge Advocate General John Atwill said.
It was 'a sadly discreditable end to your creditable career', he added.
Cpl Henderson - who is leaving the Army at the end of the month - pleaded guilty to one charge of disgraceful conduct of an indecent kind at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire.
The 45-year-old has been fined £1,800 and must pay a £100 service compensation order to the victim.
The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is known for its iconic tunics and plumed helmets, and for being at the heart of the King's coronation, royal weddings and state occasions.
The father-of-two, who was 44 at the time, drank 'a considerable amount of alcohol' on the night out with trainees who were 'much younger' than him, the court martial was told.
Prosecutor Captain Ciaran Rafferty told the court that Cpl Henderson went on a night out in Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.
Trainees and instructors were there from the Defence Animal Training Regiment, which he was a part of at the time.
The court heard that the night out started in a Wetherspoons, before moving to a pub called The Anne of Cleves and finally ending up at a karaoke bar named The Generous Briton.
The prosecutor said that at one of the pubs, Cpl Henderson slapped the bottom of one of the 19-year-old trainee.
Capt. Rafferty said of the second incident, which happened 'a few hours' later as she waited for a taxi: 'From the complainant's perspective, seemingly without any context, there wasn't any flirtatious behaviour or any indication she consented to these touches in any way', he added.
She felt 'some confusion' and 'shock' at the incidents, the court martial heard.
Capt. Rafferty said that Cpl Henderson had a 'belief someone had slapped his bottom before he slapped her bottom and it was his belief this was the complainant'.
He said: 'His belief was the complainant slapped his bottom - that's not a position of fact.
'The crown accepts that was his belief at the time of the slaps.'
For the defence, Chris Harper said that the 'sexual element' of the case is 'tangential' and that there was 'no sexual motivation or element' to Cpl Henderson's actions, which were simply 'horseplay gone too far'.
He added that Cpl Henderson hoped after he apologised to the victim at work that 'that would be the end of it'.
Assistant Judge Advocate General John Atwill said that Cpl Henderson has been a corporal for more than 10 years.
He had previous convictions for battery in 2011 and a breach of standing orders in 2009.
Sentencing the soldier, the judge said he 'consumed a considerable amount of alcohol' and the trainees were 'much younger than (him), but (he) decided to get involved in their partying'.
Judge Atwill told Cpl Henderson it was 'a sadly discreditable end to your creditable career'.
According to the British Army website, The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is the ceremonial face of the Household Cavalry.
In May, The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery led a military procession featuring 1,300 members of the Armed Forces through Whitehall to Buckingham Palace as part of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
Last weekend the Royal carriage procession at Trooping The Colour was accompanied by the Sovereign's Escort of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and the Band of the Household Cavalry, led by two shire drum horses bearing solid silver kettle drums.
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