CAN Tps Charged in Beating of Brit Expat in CYP

[The Bread Guy]

Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.

Canadian soldiers accused of beating up expat
Andreas Avgousti, Sunday Mail (Cyprus), 2 Mar 08
Article link - .pdf permalink

VIOLENCE unleashed upon the civilian population by foreign soldiers is fast becoming a problem for authorities.

In Paphos on Saturday night, two Canadian army soldiers are accused of beating up Briton James Sanford, 32, a resident of Paphos.

This is the latest of a string of similar events, happening around the island after soldiers hit the town at night.

Sanford was walking down Ayios Antonios road in Kato Paphos with his wife when the soldiers, in Cyprus for decompression following service in Afghanistan, started to make advances on the woman.

“Two of them crossed the street to where we were, one put his hand around her and spat at her feet.”

Sanford reacted, an exchange of words followed, “and then one of the soldiers hit me on the head with a bottle”, Sanford told the Sunday Mail.

Police eventually appeared on the scene, and Sanford was taken to Paphos General Hospital for treatment.

“I have 12 stitches on my face and my left eye is swollen.

“If my wife wasn’t there to shout for help I don’t know what could have happened to me.”

Canadian military police arrived at the hospital too and, according to Sanford, “showed concern and a willingness to do something about it.”

Sanford then went to Paphos police to give a statement and returned there yesterday to identify his two attackers.

Police yesterday confirmed details of the incident.

The soldiers were then arrested and taken to the station where they were charged in writing and released.

They are due to appear before a district court tomorrow.

Less than 24 hours after he had been beaten up, Sanford approached the event with equanimity and graciousness: “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“The two soldiers who beat me up are not representative of the Canadian army as a whole.

“You are bound to get a few bad apples,” he added.

Last May, two British Royal Marines returning from Afghanistan were convicted of causing actual bodily harm following a disagreement over payment of a taxi fare after a night out.

And last month nine soldiers from the British Bases were charged in connection with a brawl which left five soldiers and two Greek Cypriots injured. The men had just returned from duty in Iraq.

Ayia Napa was already out of bounds for British soldiers during the last summer period and has been for some years.

Following a new decision by the municipality of Ayia Napa, any club or bar located in the popular tourist resort’s town centre has been off limits to British military personnel for at least ten years.



Photo below of Brit expat © Le Journal

 

[PMedMoe]

I'm glad this guy was "gracious" about it and doesn't hold any bad feelings towards the Cdn military in general.
Hope these soldiers get either the help they may need or be charged accordingly.

 

[Gunner98]

Some precedents show:

- They would appear and be tried in front of Cypriot judge and if found guilty will be fined.
- Payment of the fine is required prior to departing court - about C$1500/pers.

 

[The Bread Guy]

I'm glad this guy was "gracious" about it and doesn't hold any bad feelings towards the Cdn military in general.  Hope these soldiers get either the help they may need or be charged accordingly. 

Here here!

 

[geo]

+1 Medmoe.
It is evident that all too often, when troops come back from six months in an operational environment, we do not know what we are dealing with.... everyone is carrying his own personal devil & the adaptatioon to "normal" will be a long and tortuous road.

 

[helpup]

+ 1 for the guy and hope for his speedy recovery.  I have no sympathy for the Canadians involved, after the Cypriots are done with them they I hope the CF dings them in a big way.  I fully understand decompression and the demons people have,  programs are and should be in place for that.  But I am getting tired of the lack of accountability that is becoming rampant.

 

[Gunner98]

You can only get dinged once one on the discipline side, on the administrative one - that is another story.

 

[Lard of the Dance]

Just a thought, maybe we should wait for the entire story about the event to come in before the stones get thrown. There could be a lot more to the story that hasn't been revealed yet.  Have the 2 troops made a statement yet? I've been in a similar situation coming back from a tour, and before the facts were out the all to common "Soldier Hating" was all around. Just throwing that out there.

 

[mover1]

I am sure the two guys who involved were read the riot act even before they went out on the town. Decompression or not, where ever they had been or what ever they saw is irrelevant to the fact that they should have known better.
Its incidents like these that brought the two beer per day perhaps rules into effect.
Did you ever wonder why the CO gives these big speeches after the end of a training cycle calling you "MEN" and how proud he is of you yada yadda yadda. then the first minute you get someplace the rules come out and they treat you like a child.
Its because of idiots and instances like this.

 

[helpup]

You can only get dinged once one on the discipline side, on the administrative one - that is another story.

Administrative Action is what I was thinking of.  Although in my mind you should be able to face military charges as long as they are not the same as the civilian charges for a crime. 

As for waiting for the full story, I generally do try.  But looking at the guys face the the story out so far I have more then a good idea as to what the events were leading up to it.  Been there done that ( not the cause that problem done that but in seen enough of those situations) and have more then a general ideal as to what happened.

 

[justice]

thought you would all be interested to know that today in court the Canadian soldiers were found guilty.

one of which was charged 2000euros [$3017.91 Canadian dollars] for hitting a the civilian over the head with a glass bottle of beer and kicking him in the head repeatedly while the civilians wife screamed for the soldier to stop.

the soldier who started it all by walking over to the civilians stopping them and spitting on the wife's shoes was fined 400euros

Personally I think that their fines are ridicules and no justice has been served.

What I would like to know is what measures does the Canadian military take when there soldiers behave this way? Do they get some sort of penalty? do they ignore there behavior as the beating took place in there civilian time? will there be further consequences?


Mod Edit: inserted the fine amount in Cdn $

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

will there be further consequences?

Yes, and thats all that needs to be said on this subject.

Case closed and locked.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=cfa9b43e-c091-4cdd-ab8a-3985e507e04a&k=48406

Canadian soldiers fined, given probation for Cyprus assault
Bal Brach, Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Two Canadian soldiers, on a stopover in Cyprus after a tour of duty in Afghanistan, have been found guilty of assault and paid a fine of $3,700.

The charge resulted from a drunken brawl on the Mediterranean island over the weekend.
The two soldiers were identified Wednesday as Mathieu Louis Pelletier, 30, and Guillaume Simon, 25, by Maj. Jonathan Diderich of the Canadian Operation Support Command, a division of the Canadian Forces.

Pelletier is a reservist with the Fusiliers du Saint-Laurent in Rimouski, Que., and Simon is a regular force member with the Armoured School in Gagetown, N.B., Diderich said.
The soldiers appeared in a Cyprus courtroom Wednesday, charged with assault in connection with a fight at a bar in the city of Paphos on Saturday.

In a telephone interview with Canwest News Service, a local police officer, who declined to provide his own name, said the incident started with an argument between Pelletier and a woman at the bar.
Her husband, a British expatriate named James Sanford, stepped in and a fight broke out.

Simon was charged with assault causing bodily harm, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $7,500 fine.
Pelletier was charged with a lesser crime of common assault.
A Cypriot judge found both men guilty Wednesday and ordered Simon to pay a $3,000 fine. Pelletier was required to pay $700 for his participation in the fight.

Both men paid the fines and were released from police custody, according to officials.
The two have each been given three years probation as part of their release and will remain in Cyprus for the time being, said National Defence spokeswoman Capt. Carole Brown.

Local police said the bar brawl is the latest in a string of incidents involving Canadian soldiers over the past few weeks.
"They come here, they go out for the night, they usually are leaving from Cyprus the day after, so they just want to have fun for the night," the officer said. "We had a couple of complaints about trouble last week."

Simon and Pelletier had just returned from a six-month tour in Afghanistan and were in Cyprus on a layover referred to as decompression from the stresses of fighting on the front lines.
Canadian Forces spokeswoman Lt. Isabelle Riche insisted that incidents of this nature are rare, especially when they involve violence.

"What I can tell you is that our CF (Canadian Forces) members are highly trained professionals who are respectful and grateful for the opportunity to be in Cyprus for a short stay before returning to their families in Canada," she said.
Since last year, more than 2,200 Canadian soldiers have gone through Cyprus for decompression.

 

[georgeharper]

Interesting.
Some brave person brings up the fact Canadian soldiers  are found guilty of beating up an innocent person, and the powers to be on this forum do not allow any more discussion on the topic.

 

[Mike Baker]

You again, eh? :

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Actually clownface, I had several off the board discussions with that person and they totally agree with my decision.....and they were veeeery close to the situation.

So you can take a flyin' #@^*.....