Ex-Army trainers found guilty of ill-treatment (From The Northern Echo)

Ex-Army trainers found guilty of ill-treatment

10:40am Thursday 9th July 2009 in

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TWO former Army training instructors have been found guilty of ill-treating young recruits.

Ex-corporals Stuart Pagett and Christopher Jakeman were fined after they were convicted of mistreating soldiers during training at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, between October 2007 and January last year.

Three soldiers told a court martial at Catterick Garrison they were attacked by Pagett and Jakeman for mistakes during training.

A military board found Pagett guilty of two charges of ill-treatment and Jakeman guilty of one ill-treatment charge after the sixday trial. They were cleared of five further charges between them.

Pagett, 25, was fined £1,200 after he was convicted of attacking Rifleman Derek Antwi-Boasiako in a toilet after the young soldier tapped him on the shoulder, mistakenly believing him to be a fellow recruit. The former corporal, who has since left the Army and is now self-employed in the security industry, was also found guilty of kicking ex- Rifleman Thomas Pearson, who has also since left the Army, in the ribs and head for falling behind in a steeplechase exercise.

Jakeman, 28, of 2nd Battalion The Rifles, was fined £600 after he was convicted of pushing Mr Pearson’s head against a door frame.

Assistant Judge Advocate General Paul Camp said he was satisfied it was not “systematic bullying”.

Judge Camp said they abused their positions as instructors.

The judge described Pagett’s attack on Rifleman Antwi-Boasiako as “particularly serious”

but told him: “You weren’t victimising or bullying the recruits and we regard you as of good character.”

Addressing Jakeman, Judge Camp said: “We think you got frustrated.

You broke rules and abused your position.

“This kind of conduct is not acceptable in the Army and particularly not within a training environment.”

Judge Camp said Jakeman had “difficulty coming to terms with a young man who was not making the maximum of effort”, knowing that the recruits he was training would soon be deployed to Afghanistan, where “slackness might result in their death or injury, or death or injury of others”.

He said the board did not think Jakeman should take a training role until it was satisfied he was not a risk.