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06-15-2004, 05:28 AM
Elite vet bailed on guns charges
By Ian McPhedran and wires
June 15, 2004
TWO Special Air Service veterans of the Iraq war have been accused of planning to bash a girlfriend and the unwanted baby she carried.
According to West Australian police charges, a 33-year-old corporal and a 29-year-old trooper conspired to beat the woman and bring on an abortion.
Both men are veterans of the Iraq campaign, and the corporal also served in Afghanistan.
The corporal appeared in court today charged with possessing an unlicensed firearm, ammunition and silencer.
The younger man also appeared in court today, charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. Details of the offence were not outlined in court.
Both men were remanded on bail to appear again in Perth magistrates' court on June 29. The corporal's lawyer Mark Andrews told the court the man was an eight-year veteran of the crack unit and had seen active service in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor.
The regiment had a strict policy of anonymity of its members and Mr Andrews said if the man was named it would pose him a "very real security risk".
The other related charges allege the woman fell pregnant to the younger soldier and he allegedly conspired with the corporal to bash her and terminate the pregnancy.
Comrades of the corporal described him as "a good young NCO and a solid player".
Operational members of the regiment have always had their identities protected for national and personal security.
The charges were laid at SAS headquarters in Perth last Tuesday on the eve of one of the regiment's proudest days.
On Wednesday the regiment was awarded the first ever Unit Citation for Gallantry by Governor General Major-General Michael Jeffery.
The trooper lives at the regimental barracks at Swanbourne near Perth and the corporal lives with his partner off the base. According to military sources, the charges are not linked to the men's recent war service or intensive training regimes, but purely a domestic matter.
Two former SAS members said the stresses of special forces duty should not be dismissed as a factor in the alleged plot. "You take people to the edge and you have to be prepared for some failures," one said.
All SAS soldiers receive comprehensive debriefings after operations to counter post-traumatic stress disorder and reactions experienced by some war veterans.
Regardless of the legal outcome, the men are almost certainly finished in the regiment.
Whether they survive in the military depends on the verdict. With AAP
By Ian McPhedran and wires
June 15, 2004
TWO Special Air Service veterans of the Iraq war have been accused of planning to bash a girlfriend and the unwanted baby she carried.
According to West Australian police charges, a 33-year-old corporal and a 29-year-old trooper conspired to beat the woman and bring on an abortion.
Both men are veterans of the Iraq campaign, and the corporal also served in Afghanistan.
The corporal appeared in court today charged with possessing an unlicensed firearm, ammunition and silencer.
The younger man also appeared in court today, charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. Details of the offence were not outlined in court.
Both men were remanded on bail to appear again in Perth magistrates' court on June 29. The corporal's lawyer Mark Andrews told the court the man was an eight-year veteran of the crack unit and had seen active service in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor.
The regiment had a strict policy of anonymity of its members and Mr Andrews said if the man was named it would pose him a "very real security risk".
The other related charges allege the woman fell pregnant to the younger soldier and he allegedly conspired with the corporal to bash her and terminate the pregnancy.
Comrades of the corporal described him as "a good young NCO and a solid player".
Operational members of the regiment have always had their identities protected for national and personal security.
The charges were laid at SAS headquarters in Perth last Tuesday on the eve of one of the regiment's proudest days.
On Wednesday the regiment was awarded the first ever Unit Citation for Gallantry by Governor General Major-General Michael Jeffery.
The trooper lives at the regimental barracks at Swanbourne near Perth and the corporal lives with his partner off the base. According to military sources, the charges are not linked to the men's recent war service or intensive training regimes, but purely a domestic matter.
Two former SAS members said the stresses of special forces duty should not be dismissed as a factor in the alleged plot. "You take people to the edge and you have to be prepared for some failures," one said.
All SAS soldiers receive comprehensive debriefings after operations to counter post-traumatic stress disorder and reactions experienced by some war veterans.
Regardless of the legal outcome, the men are almost certainly finished in the regiment.
Whether they survive in the military depends on the verdict. With AAP