An army sergeant has been cleared of attacking a fellow soldier after he thought he heard him call his wife fat. Afghanistan veteran Edward Keteca told service police he had heard Gunner Gary Doyle say 'something derogatory' about his wife Aimee as they walked home from an officer's mess party. The court heard that the 35-year-old then hit a female colleague who had attempted to break up the resulting drunken brawl at Larkhill Royal Artillery Barracks near Salisbury, in Wiltshire. Afghanistan veteran Edward Keteca (pictured leaving court with his wife Aimee) told service police he heard a fellow soldier call Mrs Keteca fat . Sgt Keteca claimed he had been worried the Gnr Doyle and the 'prominent bunch' of soldiers who had been out drinking with him in nearby Amesbury until 1.30am, might do something to his wife. He said: 'He (Gnr Doyle) turned and said something derogatory about my wife so we exchanged words on that. 'Until today I keep trying to remember what he said to me but he did say something to me because we stood there exchanging words. 'That's when the scuffle started. Words had been said and that's all led to one thing after another.' Sgt Ketaca claimed had heard Gunner Gary Doyle (pictured) call his wife fat and the two became involved in a drunken brawl . Bulford Military Court Centre heard that Gnr Doyle's comrades Gnr Samantha Palmer and Bombardier Andrew Radford had attempted to break up the drunken scuffle. After he being pulled away from Gnr Doyle, the court was told that Sgt Keteca had floored Gnr Palmer, 26, who got back up and told him: 'I'm a girl. You've just hit me.' The female gunner had to be taken to hospital the next day for treatment of a swollen eye. But the sergeant claimed he had struck her in self-defense after the 6ft tall, 17 stone rugby player grabbed his shoulders from behind. He told the court martial he punched her to free himself without realising she was a female. He said: 'I do accept making contact with the person coming from behind and I feel bad. 'I wasn't really sure what his intentions were - female or male. 'I was thinking about safety to myself and because I had my wife there as well. Who's to say they wouldn't do something to my wife?' Sgt Keteca's wife of six years Aimee, 29, added that the main aggressors in the incident on February 22 last year were the other soldiers. The mother-of-two said: 'The men jumped on my husband and they got involved in fisticuffs. 'My husband was being kicked the c*** out of on the ground. 'I was quite upset and I was thinking 'what's going to happen to my husband?' He was on the ground being kicked and punched. 'My husband was defending himself. He had men kicking and punching him and he was doing what any normal person would do.' Sgt and Mrs Keteca were described as a 'calm, happy couple' by comrades who knew them at Larkhill for over a year, who also labelled Sgt Keteca 'professional, reliable and highly respected'. Under cross examination, Gnr Doyle admitted describing Mrs Keteca as 'large' but denied calling her 'fat' or anything on the night of the incident. Gnr Doyle, of the 101 Regiment Royal Artillery, said: 'I never spoke no words. He just lunged towards me and I thought 'hang on'. 'He struck me a few times and I put my hands up to defend myself and we got into a big of a scuffle. 'I ended up falling over as he's hit me.' Gnr Doyle's comrades Gnr Samantha Palmer and Bombardier Andrew Radford (pictured) had attempted to break up the fight . Afghanistan veteran Edward Keteca (left) told service police he heard a fellow soldier say 'something derogatory' about his wife Aimee (right) as they left an officer's mess party . He added: 'It was a bit pathetic - it was just two drunken men.' Gnr Palmer - now a Lance Bombardier in the 265 Battery - had cried as she recalled being hit for the first time in her life. She told the court martial: 'People have a choice in life and I have never hit anybody so why should anybody hit me?' L Bdr Palmer, who denied making  derogatory remarks about Mrs Keteca, said the sergeant had thrown 'sloppy' and 'drunken' punches at Bdr Radford once he had also stepped in. She added that the case would never have come to court had she received an apology over the incident. 'One little apology and the person's career wouldn't be on the line,' she said. The drunken brawl happened at Larkhill Royal Artillery Barracks near Salisbury, in Wiltshire (pictured) Sgt Keteca always accepted he hit Gnr Palmer but but denied affray on the grounds of self defence. Today he was cleared by a board of three officers who deliberated for a little over an hour and joked with his defence barristers about sharing a bottle of champagne with his wife to celebrate. Sgt Keteca, of the 14th Regiment Royal Artillery, declined to make any further comment outside court.
Sgt Edward Keteca had been cleared of attacking two of his fellow soldiers . The 35-year-old said he had heard Gnr Gary Doyle call his wife Aimee 'fat'
Pair became involved in a drunk fight at Larkhill Royal Artillery Barracks . Sgt Keteca then hit colleague Gnr Samantha Palmer who tried to intervene .