Chug,
Re your #924, the system has changed markedly in this century. Your much-distrusted VSOs have no part to play in decisions to prosecute or otherwise; that decision belongs to the Service Prosecuting Authority (tri-Service) which runs on civilian lines and means there has to be a realistic prospect of a conviction for a trial to take place on any charge. Given that charges were beyond the scope of summary disposal (AOC etc) the only route would have been CM.
As the
website makes clear, the SPA is totally independent of the relevant Service chain of command. It was the SPA that selected the charges that were heard at the CM, not the RAF, and it would have nothing to do with potential cost of an act by the individual or with inter-Service politics. Lawyers at the SPA would have reviewed the evidence presented to them and decided there was a case to answer on charges X,Y and Z, and the (civilian) head of the SPA would have to agree. That is the only reason for prosecuting anyone.
The fact that the individual was acquitted of the more serious charges does, not mean the decision to prosecute was wrong
per se, just that the case as perceived by SPA was not proven to the satisfaction of the JA and CM members, and therefore he was quite rightly declared innocent. That is the UK justice system at work, and the same thing happens daily in courts across the country.