Army now probes ‘career-ending’ BULLYING claims against officer in charge of overseas Covid-19 response after he was caught cheating on his wife of 23 years during lockdown
- Major General Rupert Jones, 51, faces Army Board over two misconduct charges
- The father-of-three is accused of bullying a fellow officer
- Comes after the Daily Mail revealed that Jones was under investigation for allegedly breaking lockdown rules by having an affair with married woman
An Army commander caught cheating during lockdown is also under investigation for bullying, it emerged yesterday.
Major General Rupert Jones, 51, previously Britain’s highest-ranking soldier in Iraq, will face the Army Board over two misconduct charges.
The father-of-three, whose father Herbert ‘H’ Jones was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his heroism in the Falklands conflict, is facing a charge of bullying.
The accusation concerns the bullying of a fellow officer, although the Ministry of Defence refused to disclose any details.
Major General Rupert Jones, 51, previously Britain’s highest-ranking soldier in Iraq, will face the Army Board over two misconduct charges
An Army source told The Sun: ‘Jones was a real high-flyer but this is potentially career-ending. There aren’t many places for a two-star (general) to go and competition for promotion is fierce.’
An Army spokesman said yesterday: ‘We are investigating the facts of this matter, and while we do so it would not be right to comment further.’
The fresh probe comes after the Daily Mail revealed that Maj Gen Jones was under investigation for allegedly breaking social distancing rules by having an affair with a married woman.
It emerged last month that he had left his wife Lucinda, 47, and moved out of their £1.5 million home in the West Country. The couple have three children, aged between 16 and 20.
Family: With wife Lucinda and his mother Sara after birth of son Henry
His lover is understood to work outside the military and had left her husband to pursue the relationship. A source said: ‘His marriage has now broken down because he has met someone else and he has had an affair.
‘This is not a fling – this is the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with. He has fallen in love with someone else.’
The Army is still investigating whether Maj Gen Jones breached lockdown rules after he became the latest high-profile figure to be accused of flouting the measures. Government adviser Professor Neil Ferguson, 51, who helped devise the lockdown, quit his role after inviting his married lover Antonia Staats, 38, for a tryst at his home in May.
MP Rosie Duffield, 49, quit as a Labour whip after her married lover, TV director James Routh, visited her home in Kent.
And Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings faced a storm of criticism after it emerged he drove 260 miles from London to Durham during the lockdown.
Maj Gen Jones has an extraordinary military pedigree.
Major General Rupert Jones is pictured (left) as a boy with his father Colonel ‘H’ Jones, mother Sara and older brother David
He was 13 when his father was killed storming an Argentine machine gun nest at Goose Green, and followed him into the Devonshire & Dorset Regiment.
He became one of the Army’s youngest commanding officers when he took charge of the 4th Battalion, The Rifles, at the age of 38.
He has served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland and was awarded an MBE for his role in drawing up Ministry of Defence plans to cope with potential national crises.
Maj Gen Jones was Britain’s senior general in Iraq in 2016 and 2017 as part of the US-led campaign against Islamic State.