Baghad shooting: formal complaints against guard at centre of probe

The guard being questioned over the death of a colleague at Australia’s embassy had been the subject of formal reports.

Sun McKay.

The company contracted to guard Australia’s embassy in Iraq was warned that a former commando now being questioned over the death of a colleague at the ­embassy had been the subject of formal reports about his mental state and unauthorised removal of company medical supplies.

A nurse formerly employed by Unity Resources Group has confirmed to The Australian she ­relayed the concerns about Sun McKay and others in writing to senior officials at the company.

The 39-year-old former commando, who was part of Malcolm Turnbull’s security detail when the Prime Minister visited Baghdad in January, is being questioned over the shooting death of Christopher Betts at the embassy last Thursday. A team of Australian Federal Police forensic investigators has arrived in Baghdad to assist the ­investigation.

The former URG nurse and a former URG risk analyst told The Australian that they had expressed their fear that “someone would be killed” if their concerns were not acted upon.

The nurse, who was awarded a British military medal for her ­trauma services work in Iraq and Afghanistan, left Baghdad on January 28 fearing “for my life, safety and security under the continued management of URG”. Her departure was organised by DFAT regional security advisers.

By then she had reported in writing to the company, followed up by a chain of emails and phone calls to URG managers, over 11 months during 2015.

The reports raised:

● Concerns about Mr McKay’s mental health.

● Mr McKay’s alleged unauthorised removal of medical supplies and medicine. The nurse reported medical staff had demanded URG managers remove his medic privileges, including ­access to the medical unit, medicines and medical supplies. URG management and Mr McKay’s team leader where informed the entry lock and key combination to the medical clinic were changed, his log-on access to the medic computer was denied and Mr McKay was given verbal and written warnings by medical staff for inappropriate, unsafe and illegal medical treatment of URG personnel and DFAT staff.

The nurse’s reports also raised serious concerns about drugs misuse among URG staff at the ­embassy, including:

● Employees using steroids and illegal bodybuilding drugs.

● Misuse of alcohol and drugs, including sedatives and strong painkillers. Valium, ketamine, ­codeine and other drugs were being externally obtained without prescription by URG personnel.

● The lack of mental health screening and availability to staff of confidential on-call psychiatric, psychological or counselling ­services.

● Recruitment of physically and psychologically unfit URG­ ­security personnel.

● The alleged deliberate decision not to document all serious incidents to ensure “no trace could be found”.

The Australian can also reveal an internal “incident register” kept by URG and covering the period 2011 to 2015 reports that several staff, including Mr McKay, were discovered intoxicated and ­reports about erratic behaviour filed on the breaches.

Formal incident reports were submitted, on October 23, 2011. regarding his alcohol consumption, and on December 30, 2013, for inappropriately aggressive ­behaviour towards Iraqi medical staff.

On one occasion last year, ­according to the register, a live round was fired inside the ­embassy compound. The guard responsible remains employed at the embassy as a member of the personnel security detail.

The incident log, obtained by The Australian, supports the ­detailed written and oral reports made to senior DFAT officials by senior former URG staff, ­including the nurse and the risk analyst.

Detailed investigations by The Australian, published in a series of more than 14 reports since last December, have revealed complaints and concerns about URG’s security management at the embassy spanning several years.

Those began with a 19-point statement by Mike Stewart, a former Australian SAS officer with 23 years’ operational experience now serving with the British Army Reserve.

He first addressed concerns about arms and safety breaches to a senior DFAT official in 2012.

Almost two-thirds of the elite, former Australian soldiers and police who work as personal ­security specialists guarding the embassy refused to renew their contracts with URG in December, citing large pay cuts, changed working conditions, a lack of medical and death insurance, and unchecked and aged weapons that had often been “butchered” to keep them operational.

The problems have been blamed on cost-cutting after URG slashed its own, first contract, worth $101 million over five years, to $51m for its second contract, which began on January 1.

All questions to URG over the past five months from The ­Australian have resulted in no comment while DFAT has ­insisted publicly it is satisfied that URG was meeting its obligations and standards have not been compromised by the cheaper contract.