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On 1st May at Catterick Military Court Private Hawksley of 2 Mercian Palace Barracks was acquitted by the Board of the charges of disgraceful conduct of a cruel or indecent kind, and conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline .

In 2012 a coy smoker took place in which 15 (soldiers)attended. Drinking games commenced one which was known as the ‘arse crack beer’. It was during this game that one soldier was urinated upon and another thought he might have been.

Tony Moore Barrister of 39 Park Sq Leeds assisted by Phillip Priestley of Military Lawyers 4U successfully made a submission to the court after the prosecution case thatthere was a lack of evidence which was reliable enough to be left before the board. The Judge Advocate agreed with those submissions and directed the board to return Not Guilty verdicts.

Private Hawksley was extremely delighted with the verdict having endured months of stress awaiting his trial.

Talking about this case, Stuart Lowrey of Military Lawyers 4U says “This is classic case of drinking games getting out of hand. It’s easy to get carried away and the next thing you know you are facing serious disciplinary charge and possibly the end of your military career. Sometimes it can really pay to get proper, robust legal representation for military personnel who happen to find themselves involved in disciplinary matters, and that’s why we were delighted to represent Private Hawksley. For anybody in a similar situation my advice would be not to ‘bottle it up’ or think it will ‘go away’ – come to an expert in Military Law straight away to find out where you stand and what options you have and from there we can plan your defence.”

Stuart Lowrey can be contacted on soldier@militarylawyers4u.com or 01274 727190