Darwin Army officer faces court for throwing bullet ‘into the bushes’ in lead up to Buffalo Run

A Darwin army officer who threw a live round ‘into the bushes’ in the lead up to exercise Buffalo Run has been spared a three-day trial by Court Martial after pleading guilty to prejudicial conduct.

A DARWIN army officer who threw a live round “into the bushes” in the lead up to exercise Buffalo Run last year has been spared a three-day trial by Court Martial after pleading guilty to prejudicial conduct.

Warrant Officer Class Two Adam David Menteith was convicted of the offence under the Defence Force Discipline Act by a Court Martial panel at Robertson Barracks on Monday.

The Court Martial was convened after WO2 Menteith was charged with the more serious offence of negligent performance of duty before the prosecution case on that charge collapsed due to an apparent clerical error.

Prosecuting officer Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Fielden told the court WO2 Menteith was in charge of a squadron preparing to engage in blank fire exercises on May 10 when a soldier found a live 5.56mm round on the ground.

He gave it to a corporal who passed it on to WO2 Menteith who asked the corporal where the bullet had been found and “at that point the defendant has then thrown the live round into the bushes”.

Lt Col Fielden urged the Court Martial panel to impose a penalty that sent a message that WO2 Menteith’s conduct was “simply not acceptable from a defence community perspective”.

“The safety of ranges and the handling of ammunition has been a recent and relevant topic for army,” he said.

“In this particular circumstance, the conduct here has shown a disregard for the efforts of what army has been trying to achieve in terms of appropriate safety.”

Lt Col Fielden also said the sentence should be one that would help “maintain and enforce good order and military discipline”.

“If there (ever) was a case where the now well known and well worn saying that the standard you walk past is the standard you accept (applied), then I submit to you this is a case where it is directly and strongly applicable,” he said.

“For after all, the conduct in this case, the throwing of the live round, was the defendant setting a standard which was demonstrably wrong, and he did it in front of a subordinate.”

Defending officer Lieutenant Chris Weir said WO2 Menteith had “fallen on his sword” by immediately owning up to his “stupid mistake” when questioned by investigating military police.

Lt Weir said his client was “under extreme pressure on the day” but had asked the corporal where the bullet was found and satisfied himself it did not represent a safety risk.

“The blank ammunition had not been received, let alone distributed to the members, to the soldiers going into the area of operations,” he said.

“In his mind, as bad as that conduct was, he knew there wasn’t a safety breach and it’s in that context that he threw the round.”

Lt Weir said character references from other officers showed WO2 Menteith had been an exemplary soldier “up to the day, in my respectful submission, he made that stupid mistake and threw that round into the bushes as witnessed by his subordinate”.

The three member Court Martial panel’s sentence will be published at a later date, pending review, with a maximum penalty of three months in a civilian jail and dismissal from the army.