Holsworthy special forces soldier in drunken crash after wife’s affair
An overseas special forces soldier posted in Sydney caused an “international incident” after learning his wife had left him for his best mate and brother-in-arms.
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An elite special forces soldier posted to Sydney whose wife left him for his best mate and brother-in-arms has avoided a conviction after getting drunk and crashing his motorbike.
The court heard the actions of the 37-year-old soldier, whose identity is protected due to the work he does in counter terrorism, had caused an “international military incident”.
He is based at Holsworthy, attached to the Special Operations Engineer Regiment, but is expected to be sent home in July from the prestigious international posting, more than a year earlier than planned.
The member of an overseas army, who is now a single dad of two young children following his wife’s departure, appeared in Waverley Local Court on Wednesday facing a charge of mid-range drink driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.084.
“To say it’s been a bit of an international incident in terms of the military is an understatement,” the soldier’s Australian Defence Force provided lawyer said.
“I don’t wish to repeat too much in open court. But the person now with his wife was his best friend and is a part of his unit.
“I wonder if this incident ever would have occurred if that didn’t happen.”
The court heard the highly trained soldier was on the frontline protecting civilians from domestic terrorism such as the tragic shooting in Austria this week which is believed to have been carried out by a man with links to Islamic State.
“They do a lot of counter terrorism work in Australia we don’t ever hear about,” his lawyer said.
“Due to their work and the work of the police counter terrorism unit, we don’t have incidents as we have sadly seen in Vienna.
“Every other week they are kicking down doors and dismantling equipment the rest of the community know nothing about.”
The soldier suffered a suspected fractured sternum after losing his control of his Kawasaki motorbike at 6.30pm on November 10 on The Driftway at Londonderry last year.
According to the police fact sheet, he told officers he was attempting to avoid a “very large piece of vapour barrier plastic” at the time of the crash and had consumed “two glasses of Moscato with some cheese and snacks” around lunchtime.
His lawyer said he has already been told by the overseas army he belongs to that he will “never be a Sergeant Major which as a Non Commissioned Officer is the ultimate rank soldiers aspire to”.
The court heard this would result in a significant financial punishment to the tune of $300 a month for not only the rest of his military career but the remainder of his life as his military pension would also be impacted.
“As a serving member of the ADF, I can assure you this kind of incident will follow him for the rest of his career,” the lawyer said.
“There’s going to be a dramatic financial impact on him long term – we’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Magistrate Jacqueline Trad did not convict the soldier, which the court heard would have almost certainly caused him to be discharged from the army, and placed him on a two year Conditional Release Order.