Airman dismissed for using drugs

The party is over for a Defence Force airman whose recreational drug use has taken him out of the clouds.

Leading Aircraftsman Tom Lowther, 23, has been dismissed from the air force and sent to military jail for 85 days following a court martial at O¯ hakea air base on Monday.

Lowther, formerly of Blenheim, had earlier pleaded guilty to six charges of consuming and offering to supply MDMA, and consuming oxycodone. He accepted the drugs at music festivals and house parties from 2016 to 2018.

An avionics technician at O¯ hakea, Lowther was responsible for electronics on board helicopters.

Military prosecutor Colonel Craig Ruane said Lowther offered another serviceman MDMA on Christmas Eve, 2016.

Text messages between the pair were read to the court, which showed Lowther offered the class B drug.

‘‘Nah, my body is a temple,’’ the serviceman replied.

Lowther responded: ‘‘Righto haha. You minge. Get onnit.’’

Lowther then accepted two vitamin capsules containing MDMA during a house party at Mt Maunganui. He took them on New Year’s Eve, 2016.

Two days later, Lowther took another capsule at the popular Mt Maunganui music festival Bay Dreams. He sourced it from former serviceman Morgan Robert Davies as payment for covering a taxi fare.

Davies was dismissed from the Defence Force after he was found guilty in February 2019 of offering and consuming meth.

Lowther admitted taking the drug from Davies again at Wellington’s Home Grown music festival on March 4, 2017. Lowther texted Davies, saying he had ‘‘railed it’’ and it had ‘‘kicked in’’.

Ruane said Lowther also snorted oxycodone, an opioid medication for severe pain, at a corporal’s home in Feilding between November 1, 2017, and January 31, 2018.

Lowther noticed white ovalshaped pressed pills on a glass table, which looked like Panadol tablets. He and other airmen crushed the pills and snorted them using a rolled $20 note.

The final text exchange Ruane referenced was a conversation where Lowther asked Davies for "nose beers’’ for his 21st birthday party on January 20, 2018.

Lowther confirmed he snorted MDMA.

Ruane said Lowther must be dismissed because drug abuse affected his ability to maintain the safety of aircraft.

Lowther’s squadron leader, Rebecca Willis, said the leading aircraftsman was a polite and respectful man who was always professional.

When charges were laid, he was removed from working on aircraft.

Defence lawyer Major Steve Taylor said Lowther understood the Defence Force’s zero tolerance policy for drugs and that his dismissal was inevitable.

Although Lowther’s drug use was a victimless crime, the judge said helicopter operations in the air force were frequent and failures had fatal consequences.

MDMA and oxycodone were dangerous and powerful substances that would hinder Lowther’s responsibility to repair and maintain aircraft.

‘‘The victim is service discipline,’’ the judge said.

‘‘We have to protect the military community from this behaviour.’’

Two other air force personnel, whose names have been suppressed, are also facing charges. Their court martial started yesterday.