Soldier to be sentenced for indecent assault, insubordination
A New Zealand Army soldier accused of trying to touch a woman’s groin has been cleared of the charge.
The Linton-based private, who has interim name suppression, was found not guilty of indecent assault in relation to that charge by a military panel yesterday.
It was day three of his court martial at Linton Military Camp, where he was appearing on charges of intimidation, insubordination and indecent assault.
He previously admitted touching the woman’s buttocks twice, as well another female working at a bar on August 1, 2022.
The panel also found him not guilty of intimidation, but guilty of insubordination when he used language to insult a superior officer by calling her “ballbag” and “motherf ..... ” in Fijian.
They retired for little more than an hour before delivering their unanimous verdicts.
Prior to that, Judge Jonathan Moses summed up the case and urged them to cast aside any prejudice or sympathies they might have for the witnesses or accused. He said their decisions must be based on evidence alone and after traversing some legal matters made clear the path they had to follow.
He said the Crown’s case in simple terms was that during the evening of August 1 the soldier assaulted two women and also tried touching the groin of one of the women.
They said he tried to intimidate another bar worker by confronting her and asking “what, are you scared of me”, and then used insulting language towards an orderly officer who spoke to him about his behaviour.
The defence on the other hand argued the Crown’s case was not proven beyond reasonable doubt, and that intent was a required element in all of the charges.
They said the soldier was not intent on touching the woman’s groin, nor did he want to intimidate the other staffer. They said any perceived aggression was because he was confused when she stepped back from him, and the words he later used at the superior officer were unintentional.
They also argued he was close enough to the first woman that if he wanted to touch her he would have.
The judge said the defence did not dispute the soldier was drunk and badly behaved that evening, however, that was not the same as being guilty.
The panel’s verdicts meant it was not proven he had intentionally reached for the woman’s groin, or that he intended to frighten the woman he confronted.
But they did agree the language used towards the superior officer amounted to insubordination. She had earlier testified that she was the only one speaking to the soldier when he made the statements, and the terms were derogatory especially when directed towards a female.
Throughout the proceedings the soldier sat quietly between his counsel Matthew Hague and Kathryn Wang, and when witnesses gave evidence did not look up. He was asked to stand when the verdicts were delivered and showed no visible reaction.
The soldier was due to be sentenced this morning. A previous charge of intimidation was withdrawn earlier in the trial.