Jailed: Drunk Squaddies in Gun Rampage

Four Army medics were jailed yesterday for going on a drunken rampage in a Bosnia village while armed to the teeth. The squaddies had been told to cancel plans for a New Year’s Eve booze-up because they had to provide emergency medical cover. But they disobeyed orders and sneaked out of barracks for a pub crawl after arming themselves with semi-automatic rifles and pistols in case they were attacked. They nearly caused carnage in the Bosnia town of Bos Gradiska after civilian revellers threw a firecracker and they thought they were under fire.

A court martial yesterday heard the four, in full camouflage gear and wearing red cross armbands, cocked their loaded weapons and pointed them at terrified locals. The drunken pals had to be disarmed by armed Bosnia cops after a stand-off in the street. Yesterday Corporal Thomas Aitken, 30, Lance Corporal Philip Hardy, 22, Lance Corporal Anthony Scott, 20 and Private Simon Donegani, 19, admitted neglect of duty and affray. They were sentenced to three months in the glass house.

The court martial at Aldershot, Hants was told the incident could have ‘escalated badly’ as the men were not combat trained and were panicked by firework. It was also told that when they were finally returned to their unit they were of no use because none of them was sober enough to drive an ambulance. Defence lawyer Richard Bennett said: ‘They are full of remorse’. But Judge Advocate Ian Pearson told them: ‘You put yourselves and others at risk’.

With acknowledgements to The Sun.