Sgt Mark Leader Court Martiallled & Dismissed

[chrissa1]

I have rarely been more angry reading today about the case of Sgt Mark Leader who was tried, found guilty and dismissed from the Army and may lose his pension. His crime?? After arresting a suspected Taliban Bomber in the act of laying an IED and thinking the prisoner was trying to escape, he momentarily lost his temper and hit him with a wellington boot, split his lip and caused bruising.

Can you blame him????

This Taliban was released to the Afghan Police who let him go, presumably to go back and continue laying bombs.

Our lads are being treated so badly!! I asm incandescent. Anyone agree?

[socket2008]

It's assault. Who the convicted is and what job he did means nothing.

What if an 18 year old drug addict hit you with a wellington boot, would that be assault? or does it not become a crime because they are 1. an old aged pensioner 2. a member of the Armed Forces 3. someone you know.

As far as this guy is concerned, members of the Armed Forces are deemed to live by certain standards. Wacking a suspect over the head because he couldn't control his temper aren't the standards I expect. It certainly wouldn't bode well for the prosecution when it came to the terrorist's court case.

[Oneeyedvic]

milliezoe: ///It has been kept very quiet ( there is an election on ) it makes me want to go out and kick the first muslim I can find///

You are a very, very scary person. I sincerely hope that you are taken off the streets for the safety of others.

[moonraker558]

You cant do this.. you cant do that , the whole world has gone mad. Blame the human rights people for this and every other thing that you cant do even when prevoked.

[dennisb66]

Socket, Has the thug on the street seen his mates killed or maimed ?the man intended to kill more soldiers,how many deaths i wonder is he already responsible for. Can you really blame a man for venturing his frustrations.Whatever the case the punishment was to harsh.

[jno]

'the man intended to kill more soldiers'. How do you know? Even the Mail doesn't say that (and they weren't there either).

You can't do this, you can't do that, you can't even hit people you don't like the look of! It's PC gone mad, I tell you!

[dennisb66]

He was caught whilst laying a land mine so what else do you think it was for ?

[jackthehat]

I like to think there is more to this than meets the eye.

I hope to think that 'our lads' adhere, more closely, to the various 'codes of conduct' surrounding the treatment of prisoners than do some of our allies...........

If the Taliban bomber had been 'wellied' at the time of his capture, I don't think there would have been so much as a squeak about it..............however, to 'welly' him long after seems inappropriate.

[chrissa1]

Socket, what terrorist's court case? The Afghan Police let the animal go!! Over here even a yob would be given a slap on the wrist and told to be a good boy and not do it again. IF he had a job, he certainly wouldn't lose it like this poor soldier did. The man he caught was caught in the act of laying a mine to kill our soldiers for heaven's sake! As has been said previously, the Sgt had seen 3 of his friends killed by these evil people. Should he have given the man a nice cup of tea and told to do"community service" ? The punishment Did Not Fit The Crime!

[chrissa1]

Jack, he thought he was trying to escape and reacted instinctively.

[jake-the-peg]

That's what he said

The court marshall heard a different view

[jake-the-peg]

He was transferred to a base where his injuries were photographed before he was taken to a tent, usually used by ill servicemen, the court heard.

A female Royal Military Policewoman, who was guarding him had to leave the tent for a short time, putting the two Royal Marines in charge. They then assaulted him.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8608204.stm

Judge Michael Hunter said: "This was a sustained assault on an injured and unarmed prisoner

A sustained assault - they didn't just hit him once.

They beat him in a sustained manner

I think you're being decieved by papers like the Mail just putting one side (the defence side) of the story and you are believing it because it reinforces your existing prejudices.

[jackthehat]

From what I have read (and as I have said, I believe that there must be more to it), the 'prisoner' was standing and apparently unrestrained or guarded.

That's not quite the same as actively attempting to escape...........

[jno]

the judge said:

"But acts such as this against an unarmed man undermine the standards of our armed forces and undermine everything our armed forces are trying to achieve in Afghanistan and puts the lives of our personnel in even greater danger."

Surprisingly, the Mail forgot to mention any of this.

[Oneeyedvic]

One of the great things about the British Army (as opposed to any other army on the world) is that we have always recognised the needs to win Hearts and Minds. This is why when going into conflicts we have always set up schools, medical centres etc.

Torturing people and beating people who are unarmed has never been a part of our troops behaviour - and as the Judge (and jno) mentions, as soon as we start doing this, we will never win any conflict as we replace one brutal regime with another.

[anotheoldgit]

/// and undermine everything our armed forces are trying to achieve in Afghanistan and puts the lives of our personnel in even greater danger." ///

They should send that judge out to Afghanistan, could our troops possibly be in any more danger than they are now?

/// One of the great things about the British Army (as opposed to any other army on the world) is that we have always recognised the needs to win Hearts and Minds.///

Yes and one of the great things about our country is that we are the most tolerant country in the world.

That is why the rest of the world takes the p!ss out of us.

[jackthehat]

I'm not sure quite how YOU could type "we" and "tolerant" in the same sentence without choking on the hypocrisy, AOG...............

[Oneeyedvic]

<<<That is why the rest of the world takes the p!ss out of us.
>>>

Just to be clear, by talking about the 'rest of the world', are you talking about a few thousand people out of 6 billion who take advantage of our benefit system?

Or something else.

[Zeuhl]

AOG

It is a mistake to lump together and stereotype all of our service people. (though I know that stereotyping is a trait of yours)

The vast majority of our excellent armed forces have no time for thugs and bully boys. Clearly the military authorities and officers on the ground had no time for these two specimens or the case wouldn't have gone the way it did.

To defend these two thugs in opposition to the actions of the officers on the ground and the high standards expected by our professional service people says more about you than about them.