Richard Graham was re-sentenced today in the Waitakere District Court. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Richard Graham was re-sentenced today in the Waitakere District Court. Photo / Jason Oxenham
A former New Zealand Defence Force "secret agent" who was wounded in action has been re-sentenced after stealing sensitive operational material with the help of his security clearance.
But the judges who have overseen his case have been sympathetic to the soldier's "hostile war service in highly sensitive areas" and have called on the Government to assist in his recovery.
Corporal Richard Graham was convicted on appeal by Justice Anne Hinton in January for charges relating to burglary, offering to supply drugs, possession of a psychoactive product and possession of a controlled drug.
Today, the 33-year-old war veteran was re-sentenced to six months' community detention and 12 months' supervision by Judge Kevin Glubb in the Waitakere District Court
His offending occurred in September 2016, when the enlisted man was living and working at the Whenuapai Air Force base.
Graham entered the base's communications building and force protection unit's building where he took laptops and operationally sensitive items worth $200,000, the court heard today.
Graham served in the New Zealand Defence Force in a sensitive specialist intelligence role. Photo / Supplied
Between 2011 and 2015, Graham served in a specialist intelligence role as an active operative, but his unit and the nature of its operations during that time remains suppressed.
However, the Herald revealed Graham was deployed to East Timor twice as part of Operation Koru, NZDF information obtained under the Official Information Act shows.
He was first deployed between September 2010 and May 2011 and again between April 2012 and November 2012, his service record reads.
The NZDF confirmed Graham has been dishonourably discharged as a result of his offending.
The burglaries occurred on three separate occasions in August and September 2016 when Graham used his security clearance to access the two buildings, court documents read.
He stole electronics from a storeroom which contained the operationally sensitive equipment, and also took equipment and tools from construction sites at the base.
During the investigation into the burglaries, police searched Graham's home and a storage unit. Inside 10 BZP pills were found in a safe in Graham's home, while in the storage unit police located two containers with 391g of NBOME, a psychoactive product with the intended effect of mimicking LSD.
Police also found two cellphones which were seized and examined. On the phones, police identified communications relating to the supply or trading of methamphetamine.
There were about 700 calls to and from the cellphones over a three to four month period.
Graham's unit and the nature of its covert operations remains suppressed. Photo / NZPA
Judge Pidwell had accepted Graham's use of methamphetamine was to "self-medicate for stress" suffered as a result of his deployment.
She said the case was an "exceptional combination of facts" and believed Graham, who was now drug-free, should be "given another opportunity to engage appropriately in society".
An affidavit by Graham's commanding officer, whose identity is suppressed, further said the soldier carried out sensitive intelligence work in a hostile overseas environment involving significant personal risk.
There was also evidence that of the 14 soldiers who were deployed in Graham's unit many subsequently suffered from adverse health consequences.
Three had approached their superior officer expressing difficulty in re-assimilating back into normal life and significant behavioural changes were noted in five others, court documents read.
Graham himself had a history of significant depressive symptoms and trauma-related symptoms after his "war-based deployment".
Graham's NZDF records show he was twice deployed to East Timor as part of Operation Koru. Photo / NZPA
At the appeal hearing last October, the High Court at Auckland heard Graham served as a "secret agent" in the NZDF who had a "highly stressful posting overseas".
Graham's lawyer, Karl Trotter, said his client was "trained in ways to be deceptive" and on return to New Zealand his local command structure knew nothing of his overseas operations.
Today, Trotter also repeated what Justice Hinton had said of Graham.
"I acknowledge that this is a highly unusual case. I am sympathetic to Mr Graham's situation. I accept Judge's Pidwell's comments about the difficulties of being sent by the [NZDF] to a hostile environment and receiving no proper treatment on return," the judge said.
"I am impressed by the way Mr Graham has responded to the charges, and I hope that he will be an example to others who get into similar difficulties."
Trotter added his client was "injured in the military service of his country" and the case was "extraordinary situation".
A letter from the police officer in charge of the case said Graham was "very helpful" when assisting police in recovering the stolen material.
Graham's offending happened while he was living and working at Whenuapai Air Force base. Photo / Dean Purcell
A Veterans' Affairs letter was also produced to the court, however, its contents were suppressed.
Judge Glubb also sympathised with Graham.
He said while it was "very difficult to fully assess" what Graham did during his service, given national security fears, he described it as a "hostile war service in highly sensitive areas".
He said duty such as this could easily have "long-lasting and life-changing impacts".
"You were deployed by the New Zealand Government and having returned with real problems ... the New Zealand Government, in this form the justice system, should do what it can to assist you to recover," Judge Glubb said.
"Veterans' Affairs recognise the impact this has had on you and I recognise them too," he added, while also quoting "the quality of mercy" from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
