Court martial jails army lovers who went missing from Cyprus

Two lovers in the Army who went on the run for seven months were given detention sentences by a court martial yesterday.

Lance Bombardier Heidi Cochrane, 24, and Sergeant Jason Archer, 30, were sentenced to 112 days and six months respectively at the Military Corrective Training Centre in Colchester after pleading guilty to going absent without leave. They were also stripped of their ranks.

The pair, both married, disappeared from their Cyprus base in July last year and remained on the run for 209 days before turning themselves in.

Their disappearance proved particularly embarrassing for the Ministry of Defence because it had used Cochrane's picture as part of a recruitment campaign to promote a non-sexist army. The image of her staring down the telescopic sight of an assault rifle featured in "Women in the Army" publicity in February, leading to the public revelation that she was absent without leave.

The couple began an affair while serving with 16 Regiment of the Royal Artillery. Archer was with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers attached to the regiment.

Lt-Col Susan Ridge, prosecuting, told the court that on 30 July the pair failed to report for duty. "They had taken a taxi and gone to the airport flying direct to Heathrow," she said. "They moved to Wales and from there had travelled on to Holland."

Mark Haslam QC, defending, insisted the pair had become "disappointed, disillusioned and depressed" with the Army. He said they had turned to each other as "a shoulder to cry on" in times of matrimonial, personal and military difficulties.

The couple handed themselves in on 24 February this year and gave "frank and open interviews" to military police. The court was told they did not want to stay in the Army.