An Army Major who drunkenly groped students and licked an undergraduate’s face at a Burns Night dance has been convicted of sexual assault and discharged from duty.

Gareth Semple, 41, worked as a company commander in the Edinburgh Universities Officers' Training Corps (OTC), where undergraduates can experience military life before training at Sandhurst to become an officer in the British Army.

At a Burns Night ceilidh in January 2018, Semple groped students he was dancing with and kissed and licked an undergraduate’s face, a court martial heard.

The incident took place after a three-course black tie dinner at an Army barracks in Edinburgh, where around 100 kilted students read Burns poetry, gave speeches and ate haggis, neaps and tatties. The dinner was followed by traditional Scottish dancing.

When the ceilidh started, Semple began to grope the female students he was partnered with, the court martial heard.

He was suspended by the unit the day after the incident was reported.

A jury of Army officers on Monday found him guilty of one count of sexual assault and one count of misconduct through alcohol.

He was also found guilty of misconduct through alcohol at the unit’s Christmas party, which took place the previous month.

Semple was taken from a military court in Catterick, Yorkshire, to be imprisoned for 30 days.