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An army sergeant was dismissed for assaulting a junior soldier in a drunken incident in Hawaii.
Sergeant Leaongo Tanginoa was found guilty of strangling and striking Gunner Nikau Minhinnick Gill.
Bombardier Gus Nove was sentenced to detention and demoted for his role in the attack.
The prosecution said Tanginoa overreacted to a drunk and insubordinate Gill abusing him about perceived grievances, dishing out “barrack room justice”.
Tanginoa had already pleaded guilty to a charge of striking a soldier of lower rank and was found not guilty on one further charge of striking and two of kicking Gill.
Judge Mina Wharepouri and the panel sentenced Tanginoa to dismissal and six months' detention.
Sergeant Leaongo Tanginoa (standing left) and Bombardier Gus Nove face a court martial at Linton Military Camp. Seated are their lawyers, Steve Winter (left) and Matthew Hague. Photo / RNZ, Jimmy Ellingham
Bombardier Gus Nove, 26, was also found guilty on one charge each of striking and kicking Gill, and not guilty on one charge each of striking, kicking and threatening him if he told anyone what happened at Schofield Barracks in the early hours of November 25, 2023.
The court martial heard Tanginoa tried to calm Gill when he was causing a nuisance in barracks, but when his efforts were rebuffed he and Nove attacked the young soldier.
Gill lost consciousness twice, once when Tanginoa strangled him and once when he was punched.
The fracas happened during a night when soldiers were drinking at their Hawaii base to mark the end of a training exercise.
NZ Defence Force Army Gunner Nikau Minhinnick Gill drowned last November after he fell into the Manawatū River trying to rescue his dog. Photo / NZDF
Judge Wharepouri said the soldiers left to drink in the Hawaiian camp were inadequately supervised.
“This needs to be addressed by the armed forces, in particular the Army, to avoid that type of event occurring again.”
Concerns about Gill’s behaviour were fair, but he did not deserve the beating he received, Judge Wharepouri said.
“It’s the wish of this court martial to convey to everyone present and those who will read these comments in the future that irrespective of how the complainant behaved on the night, amounting to insubordination, rough justice, or what’s been described as barrack room justice, will not be tolerated in the Army or any service, even if it was at some previous time.”
The judge said the offending was made worse because of the attack on Gill’s head and neck, its “prolonged and sustained violence”, and Tanginoa and Nove’s abuse of rank.
Tanginoa’s defence lawyer Steve Winter said his client accepted his military career was over.
His service, which included stints in East Timor and Iraq, had “regrettable lapses”.
“There’s a common theme in that and that’s drinking.”
As Winter saw in his work in the district court, alcohol unlocked personality problems.
“Had Sergeant Tanginoa not had a career in the military it’s not difficult to see a substantially different path he might have travelled.”
Winter said Tanginoa told him he “made good” with Gill on their return to New Zealand in late 2023, highlighting the “enigma” of a man who, when sober, was able to reflect.
Tanginoa’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Brent Morris, said he was hardworking and competent, especially since the Hawaii incident, but prone to lapses in discipline.
Tanginoa had been on retention reviews in 2008 and 2011, and received written warnings in 2011 and 2022.
“Interwoven throughout all instances has been themes of alcohol and substance misuse, and violence.”
The prosecution said Tanginoa had three previous military convictions relating to drinking alcohol in barracks when ordered not to.
Nove’s defence lawyer Matthew Hague also raised issues about drinking in the military.
The drinking at the Hawaiian base on the night in question could have been better handled by Defence Force personnel and management, he said.
Hague said he was not blaming alcohol nor Gill’s drunken state for what happened, but told the military panel, before it debated sentencing: “You might feel that Nove and Tanginoa were left unsupported that evening.”
Nove’s commanding officer in the youth development unit, Major Sheridan Cooper, gave a glowing reference of Nove’s work.
But, Cooper acknowledged Nove could not continue in that unit after the guilty verdicts.
Away from court, a statement from deputy chief of Army, Brigadier Hamish Gibbons, said the military expected a high standard of behaviour from soldiers, whether they served at home or abroad.
“The NZ Army remain committed to continually enhancing its organisational culture and to maintaining a safe and respectful environment to all of our people.”
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