Jailed, corporal who assaulted Army colleague
...then offered victim £3,000 bribe
AN ARMY corporal has been jailed and kicked out of the military after he beat up a junior colleague and then offered him £3,000 to keep quiet.
Corporal David Barry attacked Private Lee Bonehill at their base after a boozy evening with colleagues.
Pte Bonehill was punched in the face, and lost consciousness after being kicked and stamped on as he lay on the ground. The private, who has been in the Army for six years, told a court martial that he pleaded with Barry to stop as he was in a ‘hell of a lot of pain’.
The court heard Pte Bonehill was offered £2,000 to drop the charges plus a further £1,000 once it was confirmed. Barry denied this.
It was alleged Corporal Robert Andrew had also kicked Pte Bonehill during the attack, but he was cleared of assault.
Barry, of The Royal Logistics Corps, was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and admitted a charge of battery for an incident earlier that night. Last week Barry was sentenced to four years in prison for grievous bodily harm with intent, battery and assault of an emergency worker at Cardiff Crown Court.
Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire heard Barry had chased a man down a street, knocked him to the ground and gouged his eyes in a drunken attack before being tasered by police in the Welsh capital.
Barry was under investigation for the incident involving Pte Bonehill when the Cardiff attack took place.
The court martial jailed the father of one for an extra six months, reduced him in rank and kicked him out of the Army. He was also given 28 days to serve concurrently for the battery.
His trial heard that on the evening of March 1, 2020, Barry and Cpl Andrew – who did not know Pte Bonehill – were drinking with a group in The George pub in Aldershot, Hampshire.
Captain Daniel Lawlor, prosecuting, told the court Barry had punched Pte Bonehill. Barry claimed he was defending himself from what he believed was an imminent attack, but pleaded guilty to battery.
After this altercation, the soldiers went their separate ways before 30-year-old Pte Bonehill was approached by Cpl Andrew and Barry back at base.
The father of three said: ‘One of them shouted, “which one of you f ***** s punched me?” I was punched with enough force to go to the ground. I was then kicked in the jaw area and had blood in my mouth.
Pte Bonehill said he was kicked up to 15 times before losing consciousness. Judge Advocate Jane England told Barry: ‘It is a sad fact that by your own conduct, you have made it certain you will never serve again.’