Army soldier forbidden from drinking while on ‘orderly duty’ is demoted after he started drunken brawl following pub row
- Corporal Kirt Daykin, 38, rugby tackled a colleague before punching him in head
- He was on ‘orderly duty’ at the time, where soldiers are forbidden from drinking
- Father-of-two challenged fellow soldier to fight outside pub in Larkhill, Salisbury
- Cpl Daykin was demoted to Lance Corporal and fined £800 following a hearing
A British Army soldier forbidden from drinking while on ‘orderly duty’ has been demoted after he started a drunken brawl following a pub row.
Corporal Kirt Daykin, 38, rugby tackled a colleague to the ground before punching him in the head during a street fight outside a pub where he was based in Larkhill, near Salisbury, in July.
The father-of-two was on ‘orderly duty’, where a soldier is forbidden from drinking so he can look after intoxicated colleagues and receive important messages, when the drunken incident took place.
Bulford Military Court, in Wiltshire, heard Cpl Daykin was with the 47th Royal Artillery at Horne Barracks when he challenged Lance Bombardier Douglas Gough to a fight.
Captain Rebecca Slee, prosecuting, said: ‘Cpl Daykin reported for duty at 10am on the 9th [of July] and was to remain on duty until 6pm on the 11th.
Corporal Kirt Daykin pictured outside Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire on Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to single counts of battery, disorderly behaviour and contravening standing orders
The court heard that Cpl Daykin rugby tackled a colleague to the ground before punching him in the head during a fight outside a pub near Salisbury
‘During the evening of the 10th Cpl Daykin visited a pub called The Packhorse in Larkhill.
‘Whilst Cpl Daykin was at the pub he consumed alcohol and became intoxicated, in contravention with the standing orders. Alcohol shouldn’t be consumed at any time while on duty.
‘On the way home from the pub there was an altercation between Cpl Daykin and LBdr Gough and Cpl Daykin rugby tackled him, brought him to the ground and punched him in the head.’
The court heard the fight on the walk home came after a disagreement in the pub.
Judge Advocate Jane England said: ‘From what I understand Gough came out of the toilet, saw some play fighting and got the wrong impression.
‘Cpl Daykin took exception to him intervening and breaking it up and thought Gough had hit him on the head.
‘Ironically, one of his duties would have been to deal with those who returned to camp in a drunken state.’
Tagbo Ilozue, defending, said in mitigation that, while Cpl Daykin had asked LBdr Gough to fight him, the latter had ‘accepted willingly’ and took off his hoodie as an invitation to brawl.
Cpl Daykin was on ‘orderly duty’, where a soldier is forbidden from drinking so he can look after intoxicated colleagues and receive important messages, when the drunken incident took place
Cpl Daykin was demoted to Lance Corporal and fined £800 following the hearing in Wiltshire
He added that Cpl Daykin has struggled with alcohol dependency in the wake of death of both his father and grandfather in quick succession, which he found out about while on tour in Iraq.
Mr Ilozue said this ‘traumatic experience’ was followed by the breakdown of his marriage and his ex-wife taking his two young children, aged seven and 10, to Germany.
Passing sentence, Judge Advocate England, said: ‘Your general behaviour on the way home was unpleasant.
‘You have had a difficult couple of years. You suffered two very sad bereavements, the breakdown of your marriage, the movement of your children abroad and you have not seen them.
‘As a result, you used alcohol as a coping mechanism.’
Cpl Daykin was demoted to Lance Corporal and fined £800 after pleading guilty to single counts of battery, disorderly behaviour and contravening standing orders.
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