Soldiers sacked over drug charges
Four soldiers have been discharged from the army after being found guilty of taking prescription medication while on deployment in Fiji.
In March, the New Zealand Defence Force said five staff members had been stood down after an incident involving an unknown substance, later revealed to be a prescription drug.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Defence Force confirmed that four soldiers had since been discharged from service in relation to this incident but offered no further information about the investigation.
The fifth person involved was found not guilty at a summary trial.
All five of the soldiers were from Linton Military Camp.
A New Zealand Defence Force spokesman said a member of the navy was also under investigation in relation to the matter but a decision was still to be made in respect to that person.
The incidents happened while they were on board the HMNZS Canterbury on a relief deployment in Fiji after Tropical Cyclone Winston tore through the region.
Information released under the Official Information Act showed the army drug tested nearly 1700 of its own in 2015.
A total of 1693 army personal were tested, with 633 tested in the navy, 664 in the air force, and 442 in a tri-service environment, where it could not be distinguished which force the person was part of.
This saw 38 per cent of the Defence Force tested for drugs in 2015, compared to 30 per cent in 2014. Of those tested, 15 results indicated the presence of medically prescribed drugs, while 35 tested positive for the presence of illicit drugs.
Since the end of 2014, 31 summary trials have been conducted concerning charges relating to drug use or sale in the Defence Force.
Following these, 28 guilty findings were returned with 21 of those individuals since leaving the defence force as of March, 2016.
In late 2015 the New Zealand Defence Force’s chief of army Major General Peter Kelly said he would do ‘‘everything he can’’ to ensure the New Zealand Army was free of illegal drugs. ‘‘I am well aware of the current illegal drug issue throughout New Zealand and I will not stand by and let illegal drugs pollute the integrity of the New Zealand Army.’’
Earlier this year eight soldiers were investigated after taking the psychedelic drug N-bomb in Palmerston North.
Out of those eight, all from Linton Military Camp, three went to court martial and five were discharged from the army. One of the three who went to court martial, Private Luke Brame, 22, pleaded guilty to to supplying the psychoactive substance N-bomb.
Brame was dismissed from the army and sentenced to 90 days’ detention in the defence force’s correctional facility in Burnham.
The other two soldiers who went to court martial, Lance Corporal Joshua Mapson, 31, and Private Barclay Bishop, 22, were found guilty doing an act likely to prejudice service discipline, which included taking N-bomb. Mapson received a reduction in rank to private and a $840 fine, while Bishop was fined $685. Both were sentenced to 14 days in Burnham but were not dismissed.