The fact that this officer was tried by Court Martial at all is a bad signal for all UK military aircrew, when past precedent would have seen him dealt with summarily (by his AOC or CinC?),
Not necessarily
Chugalug. When I was at Khormaksar I attended as officer under instruction the court martial of an Argosy captain who had been involved in a taxing accident. Two aircraft were damaged (Cat 3 I think) when his starboard wingtip struck the tailplane of another Argosy and there were no injuries. In spite of the fact that it was proved that the taxiway lines he was following had been incorrectly laid out when painted, and the static aircraft that he struck was parked six feet out of position (nearer to the taxying aircraft) and also that he had been given a "clear starboard" by his nav who was acting as lookout, he was still found guilty. The court's view was, he was the captain so he carried the can.
A far less serious incident than the one we are discussing, but nevertheless it still went to court martial, not dealt with by C in C AFME. He was reprimanded and lost a year's seniority, certainly something the C in C could have done, and the general opinion was it had all been a bit of overreaction to a simple error of judgement.