The New Zealand Army insists there is no culture of bullying in its ranks after a corporal was convicted of a series of assaults on his subordinates.
Corporal Paul Dudley will have to serve 60 days in a military jail and will then be dismissed from the Army
for the assaults and other breaches in protocol while serving in East Timor last year.
Among the 13 offences proven at a court martial, he kicked Private Mark Pullan through a window and punched and hit him with a Steyr rifle. He also struck Private Samuel Millar with a rifle and threw a cup of coffee at him.
The Army's Land Component Commander, Brigadier Dave Gawn, told the Herald the court martial was as "significant" as he had seen in his 25 years of service, and was of concern.
"Particularly this sort of bullying nature of it, which is simply not tolerated wherever it occurs _ because, quite frankly, it's counter to the culture ... of what Army is about."
While there was no evidence of a wider bullying culture, Brigadier Gawn said there were occasionally incidents and "in terms of human nature ... it's very difficult to stamp that out. But whenever it is identified, it is dealt with severely."
After the three-day court martial at Burnham Camp, Dudley was also found guilty of criticising his superiors when failing to follow orders, using threatening language by telling subordinates, "When I find the nark, watch out", and allowing his soldiers to watch DVDs while on sentry duty at East Timor's Becora Prison.
MILITARY JAIL
* A member of the Defence Forces convicted of an offence can be ordered to serve time at the Service Corrective Establishment (SCE) at Canterbury's Burnham Military Camp.
* Once sentenced to time in the SCE, a soldier's rank is reduced to private.
* An ordinary day in the SCE will consist of a military drill, physical exercise and manual labour, inside or outside the establishment.
