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Army officer waged war of words against former lover

Tuesday 31 March 1998 17:02 EST
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AN ARMY officer waged a campaign of offensive telephone calls and letters against his former lover after their three-year affair ended, a court martial heard was told yesterday. Lieutenant Colonel Keith Pople, a Bosnia veteran and former member of a key Ministry of Defence team, also wrote to his ex-lover's friends and bosses after she refused to restart their affair.

In a bitter campaign against the senior Wren, he wrote to the captain of HMS Illustrious to complain that Lieutenant Commander Karen Pearce was having sex on the ship with her new lover, the court at Aldershot, Hampshire, heard. Lt Cmdr Pearce, 34, of Nyewood, West Sussex, said he continued to make sexual advances to her for months after the break-up in 1996. As she continued to rebuff him he became increasingly angry and threatened to expose her sexual antics to newspapers.

Lt Col Pople, 42, faces two Army charges that his behaviour was "to the prejudice of good order and military discipline" and "scandalous conduct". The hearing continues today.

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