AN army welfare officer who harassed his female colleagues has today lost an appeal to have his prison sentence reduced or suspended.

Tony Jackson, 45, who was based in Tidworth at the time of the offences, was jailed for four months on November 18 but appealed the sentence at Winchester Crown Court.

Recorder William Ashworth dismissed the appeal and said Jackson, who refused to attend the appeal hearing, must serve his original jail term.

Jackson, a retired army Colonel, pleaded guilty on October 28 to harassing two female colleagues whom he bombarded with unwanted text messages and sexual images.

Anthony Bailey, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Jackson harassed his first victim over the course of three years, from May 2013 to June this year.

He sent messages asking what she was wearing, and if she would send him photographs of her, as well as suggesting the pair go away together.

Jackson had sent her Facebook messages saying he would try and kiss her if they ever ended up alone at work.

She had also received a message from him in March this year saying: "This morning I made love to you", which he later admitted to sending after masturbating in the shower while thinking of her.

Mr Bailey said "by this time [the victim] was really distressed by these messages" and that she texted Jackson back to say she was not interested in him as she was in a long-term relationship.

He said he would delete her phone number and not message her again, but the next day he repeated his requests for the pair to go away together.

Mr Bailey told the court that the messages became more frequent and that, at one point, "he told her that she should remember that he was her line manager, and she felt that he was blackmailing her, as he pointed out that she could not and would not be promoted without his intervention.

"He told her that she should not upset him or he would not recommend her for progression."

In one incident in their office kitchen, Jackson had "stood behind the woman and firmly grabbed her hips" when she was against one of the kitchen counters. He later texted her asking "if she had liked it when he touched her", adding "I really enjoyed it".

On another occasion, the victim was stood in the office when Jackson approached her and said "look at you, you scruff" and told her her collar was up.

Mr Bailey said Jackson then put his hands on her neck, stroking the woman under her collar while he flattened it, which left her "absolutely shocked and numb".

During this time, Jackson had also been sending messages to another female member of staff, between November 2015 and June this year.

He had also sent the second woman three pictures of himself, two of him topless but wearing a towel around the waist, and one of his erect penis.

Jackson also texted her saying "you don't know what you do to me", and "I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to kiss you".

These messages continued despite the woman telling Jackson she was happily married and did not appreciate receiving texts and pictures from him.

But he did not stop, sending further texts including ones which read "make love to me", "I am thinking of you in the shower" and "come into my hot tub".

It was only during a conversation between the two victims, in which one asked if Jackson ever made her feel uncomfortable, that the extent of his harassment came to light.

During his police interview, Jackson admitted sending the messages but said that his feelings had been reciprocated by both women.

Defending, Sambreen Arif, said Jackson believed the messages were "banter" and he was "very, very sorry".

But in a pre-sentence report, a probation officer said Jackson showed "very little insight into his behaviour, or the impact it had had on his victims".

Recorder Ashworth said Jackson's conduct put him in the most serious bracket of harassment, because of its persistent nature and due to the explicit photos he sent, and dismissed the appeal for the original sentence to be suspended or shortened.

He said if he had been sentencing Jackson in the crown court, he would have jailed him for longer than 16 weeks.