Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
4yrs jail dished out to pizza row soldier
Trooper scalded after thug threw boiling water
A SOLDIER who scalded a colleague’s privates with boiling water after he took a slice of his pizza was jailed yesterday.
Sapper Christian Dinsmore, from Northern Ireland, suffered “second degree burns to his groin and scrotum” and was in hospital for three days.
A court martial heard Sapper Samuel Webster, 26, had turned up at the victim’s room in barracks wearing a “white mouth guard” and holding a “mug” of boiling water.
He was jailed for four years and dismissed from the Army.
He threw the mug at Spr Dinsmore, who was wearing only boxer shorts, before kicking him in the face, shouting: “That will teach you.”
Judge Alistair Mcgrigor said: “Spr Dinsmore was hospitalised and had surgical intervention. The scalding must have been extremely painful.
“We took into account that the instigation for this act was Sapper
Dinsmore taking a slice of pizza. That a minor spat led to your actions was an aggravating factor.”
Prosecutor Captain James Farrant said: “Spr Dinsmore felt there was pressure on him not to report this.
“He felt intimidated as Webster had not been arrested and was still part of the unit. He was considering leaving the army and he was worried about the permanent scarring.”
Webster denied grievous bodily harm with intent insisting he did not throw the boiling water
Bulford Military Court heard they were out while on guard duty last March at Swinton Barracks, Wilts.
Webster, of 26 Engineer Regiment, ordered a Domino’s Pizza, leaving “around three-quarters” in the guard room when he went back on duty.
But Spr Dinsmore helped himself to a slice. Webster confronted him before asking him to pay for the slice but was allegedly told to “f**k off ”.
The victim was awoken at 1pm by loud knocks on his door.
He said: “Webster was there with a mouth guard and a mug in his hand. There was boiling water in the mug and he threw it at me.
“I fell over. I tried to get up but he kicked me in the head and knocked me down again. I managed to get up and put my hands up to protect my face... if I didn’t do something things were going to get a lot worse for me.”