TWO separate complaints triggered an investigation into a senior Army officer accused of falsely claiming allowances to send his children to Dorset private schools, a court has heard.

Major General Nick Welch is on trial at Bulford Military Court accused of one charge of falsely claiming £48,000 to pay for his children’s boarding school fees between December 2015 and February 2017.

As previously reported, the prosecution state that the 57-year-old had applied for the allowance on the basis that both he and his wife would not be living close to the children’s schools in the county.

This was in order to claim for the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) to allow their children to stay at the £37,000-a-year Clayesmore School and the £22,500-a-year Hanford School.

The payment is aimed at allowing children of service personnel to remain at the same schools to enable their serving parent to be accompanied by their spouse as they are posted to different locations.

But the prosecution claims that his wife, Charlotte, actually spent most of her time at a cottage in Blandford Forum, Dorset, close to the two schools rather than at their stated military accommodation in Putney, London.

Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth James-Park, commanding officer of the Joint Service Administration Unit (JSAU), said she was alerted to a concern raised about the “lack of occupancy” of Welch’s London accommodation in February 2017.

She said that she sought guidance from her line manager because of Welch’s rank as a two star general and as it was the “second allegation about the same individual."

She added: “This is a sensitive issue we were dealing with as it was a senior military figure, I wanted to handle it as sensitively as possible as I didn’t want to embarrass anyone.”

Lt Col James-Park said that the matter was then handed over to the Royal Military Police for investigation.

The CEA policy states that service personnel would be ineligible to claim the allowance if their spouse is away from the registered military home for more than 90 days per year, which the prosecution suggest Mrs Welch was during this period.

The court was read an email sent by Welch to Lt Col James-Park in July 2017 – after the investigation had been launched – asking for guidance on CEA compliance to allow his wife, a consultant for a start-up company, to pursue her own career.

He wrote: “She has recently started working as a consultant for a number of other companies including work abroad and it is likely she will be required to do more.

“I am aware of dispensation to other CEA claimants to allow their wives to pursue their careers.

“Although I do not expect her to exceed 90 days, I feel it prudent to seek your guidance to ensure compliance.

“I am keen to remain within the regulations.”

Welch denies the charge and his barrister, Sarah Jones QC, has told the court that the CEA rules were a “mess” and he and his wife had not acted dishonestly.

The trial continues.