Navy Lieutenant Commander John Miller charged with assaulting ship’s guard
A Royal Australian Navy lieutenant commander has been accused of drunkenly kicking a junior shipmate in the groin after a night out at a notorious Darwin nightspot. Here’s the latest on the case.
Police & Courts
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An experienced navigator in the Royal Australian Navy allegedly kicked a junior shipmate in the groin as he tried to assist him back onto their ship after a night at a notorious Darwin nightclub.
Royal Australian Navy member Lieutenant Commander John Miller is defending charges of assaulting a guard on duty or – in the alternative – assaulting a subordinate officer at a restricted military court martial at Garden Island in Sydney.
The prosecution alleges Lieutenant Commander Miller kicked a shipmate – then an able seaman – in the groin as the subordinate member and another lieutenant commander attempted to assist him back onto HMAS Adelaide at Darwin around 1.30am on December 3 last year.
The tribunal heard he also punched his fellow lieutenant commander in the face as he tried to assist him onto the ship’s gangway.
Prosecuting officer Major Adam Mason told a panel Lieutenant Commander Miller had gone to dinner with several colleagues before drinking at Darwin night spot Monsoons with other Defence Force members.
It is accepted the navigator was severely intoxicated, unsteady on his feet, slurring his speech, swearing, and in need of assistance to get out of an Uber which took him and his fellow navigator from Darwin’s Mitchell St back to HMAS Adelaide.
“(The other lieutenant commander) will say Lieutenant Commander Miller said words such as “f--k you” and “f--k off” while assisting him to walk, and that he punched him in the mouth with a closed fist,” Major Mason told the tribunal’s panel.
“After a short time, the other lieutenant commander and the able seaman assisted Lieutenant Commander Miller to get up the gangway – partway up, Lieutenant Commander Miller stopped and kicked his leg, striking the able seaman.”
Lieutenant Commander Miller and the leading seaman were both with HMAS Adelaide at the time and the ship was then docked in Darwin following a recent deployment to Indonesia.
The other lieutenant commander had joined the ship that day in advance of taking over Lieutenant Commander Miller’s position as HMAS Adelaide’s navigator in the coming days.
Defending officer Commander B. L. Jones conceded Lieutenant Commander Miller’s foot struck the able seaman but contended it was an accident caused by the intoxicated navigator slipping on a particularly steep and slippery gangway.
The able seaman – who has since been reduced in rank to seaman due to an unrelated disciplinary incident which occurred after the night in Darwin – gave evidence before the panel.
The tribunal heard he was rostered on as a ship’s guard with a shift to commence at 2am when he observed the commotion between Lieutenant Commander Miller and the other navigator on the wharf.
“It sounded quite hostile so I went to the edge of the gangway, I saw the two gentlemen, one was fairly intoxicated and he was yelling at the other one,” the seaman said.
“I had not seen someone who was that drunk in a very long time.”
The seaman described in evidence to the tribunal his superior officer as “aggressive” and “trying to be physical” with the other navigator.
The pair then coaxed Lieutenant Commander Miller into a seat under a marquee to drink some water, which he began spitting and dribbling due to his intoxication.
“I said to the other navigator, sir, this isn’t a really a good look for our ship or for Lieutenant Commander Miller to be in public when he is this intoxicated, I said I think it’s best if we get on the ship, have some food, have some water and sleep it off,” the seaman said.
“We tried to direct him toward the ship, he was not very cooperative, he was saying f--k that I’m not going back.”
The tribunal heard the seaman and the navigator had significant difficulty coaxing Lieutenant Commander Miller up the gangway, complicated in part by how steep the gangway was at the time and because it was slippery from disinfectant used on the ship’s company’s footwear due to customs protocols after their Indonesian deployment.
The prosecution alleges that partway up the gangway, Lieutenant Commander Miller stopped, turned around, and intentionally kicked the seaman him in the groin, then another two or three subsequent times.
In cross-examination, Commander Jones suggested the seaman had made the incident up and any contact between Lieutenant Commander Miller’s foot and the seaman’s body was due to him drunkenly slipping.
“He never turned around and kicked you,” Commander Jones suggested.
“Yes he did, sir,” the seaman responded.
“You told the quartermaster about what happened,” Commander Jones suggested.
“How I was kicked, yes sir,” the seaman responded.
Commander Jones suggested the seaman did not trust officers and had difficulty following orders, citing an infringement he received for failing to comply with a direction and a rank reduction he received for testing positive to cannabis – both after the Darwin incident.
The seaman said he did not distrust all officers, but had some difficulty trusting them after the Darwin incident in particular.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
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