NZ officer lines up costly counsel in anti-war court battle

The New Zealander facing a court martial for refusing to serve in Iraq for Britain's Royal Air Force has hired a senior Queen's Counsel to defend him in a costly legal fight he may have to pay for himself.

Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, who has dual New Zealand and British citizenship, is five years into a six-year contract as a doctor with the RAF. The former Otago University student served in Afghanistan, where he was decorated, and on two trips to Iraq but refused to travel there again. He is the first British officer to face criminal charges for challenging the legality of the war. His lawyer, Justin Hugheston-Roberts, confirmed New Zealand-born senior London barrister Philip Sapsford QC would head the five-member defence team.

A senior judge and at least five high-ranking officers will hear the case. New Plymouth military lawyer Tim Brewer said he thought Kendall-Smith would lose the case "because if the Government says this is a war to which we've committed our troops and the orders of the superior officers are following Government direction, those orders are to be obeyed."

The RAF's funding of his legal representation would not cover five lawyers, including a QC. Some QCs charge $1000 an hour in New Zealand.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY