Soldiers used colleague as human battering ram, trial told
A SOLDIER suffered life-changing injuries and was medically discharged from the Army after three colleagues used him as a human battering ram to open a door during training, a court martial has heard.
Lance Corporal Matthew Dight had joked to his fellow soldiers in the Household Cavalry it would be “funny” to use a person as a battering ram but “didn’t expect his joke to be taken seriously”.
Lance corporals Nicholas Coventry, Anthony Murphy and Samuela Matakibau then picked up their 9st 6lb colleague horizontally and “shoved” him headfirst through the heavy door.
The court martial at Bulford Military Court, Wilts, heard the call “deploy the Dight” was shouted as the trio thrust their 5ft 7in colleague into the door with “significant” force during a training exercise on breaching doors.
Mr Dight, 29, was left with a fractured spine and traumatic head injuries. He was medically discharged from the Army after the incident in September 2015 at Copehill Down on Salisbury Plain, Wilts.
Graham Coombes, prosecuting, said Mr Dight “did not consent to being a battering ram” and described L/cpl Coventry, L/cpl Matakibau and Murphy, who is no longer in the Army, as “reckless”. He said: “They and the complainant were a four-man squad on battering ram training, teaching them how to open doors in combat situation. They were wearing helmets. They had to complete a maze of six or seven doors and a final door, which is the door in question.
“The complainant joked it would be funny to use a person as a battering ram and soon after that they all picked him up horizontally by the door before shoving him into it head-on to open it.
“As a result of his head being forced into the door, he suffered four compressed fractures to his vertebrae and moderate traumatic brain injuries. He was medically discharged from the Army [as] they were life-changing injuries.” Giving evidence, Mr Dight said that in the waiting area the four of them were joking about seeing videos of soldiers doing “stupid” stunts on Facebook. He said: “You see on Facebook soldiers being stupid when going through doors and we were discussing it would be funny to use someone as a battering ram. My next recollection is being on the floor and being in a lot of pain.
“I was under the impression I had a fall, it wasn’t until I was at the hospital I was told I was used as a battering ram.”
L/cpl Coventry, L/cpl Matakibau and Mr Murphy all deny causing grievous bodily harm. The trial continues.