Army major in court over alleged molesting

An Army major has denied charges of smacking one female colleague on the bottom, sending lewd text messages to another and grabbing the thigh of a third.

In a court martial at Wellington's Trentham Army Base, the officer, who has name suppression, pleaded not guilty to seven charges.

He was also charged over text messages sent to a subordinate, one of which referred to the nickname given by his peers to her partner's penis.

Assistant prosecutor Lieutenant Chris Sutton said the incidents occurred in September 2007 in New Plymouth, Linton Military Camp and Trentham Military Camp.

The first charge the major faces is assault - by putting his arm around a female captain, his direct subordinate, while the pair were out drinking.

She went home when his attentions made her feel uncomfortable, after which he repeatedly text-messaged her until the next morning.

She told him his behaviour was inappropriate and he apologised, the captain told the court.

He then told another of his female subordinates that the captain was "a good shag" before propositioning the second woman, a lieutenant.

He also faced a charge relating to repeatedly "smacking the [lieutenant's] bottom in an unwanted fashion".

Another of the indecent assault charges stemmed from his grabbing the thigh of a third female colleague in a "blatantly unnecessary" manner when reaching for a newspaper.

Defence lawyer Tom Gilbert said the alleged offending was "minor, small,little matter" and not worth bringing to court.

"They do not construe criminal assaults. They certainly do not construe indecent assaults," he told the court.

The case continues.

NZPA