Posted: 9/3/2008 11:38:29 AM EDT
I konw this took place last year but its only just come to court (martial) for sentencing.  The guy is a complete COCK and deserves whatever he gets  ETA this was taken from one of the daily rags today A soldier killed a comrade in Iraq by shooting him with a sniper rifle he aimed at him for a joke, a court martial heard yesterday. Rifleman Aarron Kendrick, 20, committed 'the cardinal sin of weapon handling' by pointing the gun at fellow soldier Edward Vakabua 'in jest'. Believing it not to be loaded, Kendrick fired the rifle at the 23-year-old Fijian as he slept on his bunk, hitting him in the head. Colleagues fought to save Rifleman Vakabua but he was pronounced dead minutes later. The shooting happened in June last year inside dictator Saddam Hussein's former palace in Basra, which the soldiers' unit had taken over as their headquarters. Aaron Kendrick (left) is alleged to have shot Edward Vakabua in the head with a sniper rifle as he slept Prosecutor Colonel Nigel Jones told the hearing at Bulford, Wiltshire, that Kendrick, of 4th Battalion The Rifles, took the L96 bolt-action rifle from beneath a colleague's bed. He was neither allowed nor qualified to use it, but dreamed of becoming a sniper himself. Rifleman Vakabua was hailed a hero shortly before his death. Mr Vakabua had saved a wounded colleague. Prosecutor Colonel Nigel Jones said: 'It was not his rifle. 'He was not authorised to use it and he was not qualified to use it. 'He picked up the rifle because he was curious, because he was interested in going on a course and qualifying as a sniper. 'His father was also qualified on this rifle and he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. 'He was in his own words 'messing about' to see how quickly he could load the rifle. 'He committed the cardinal sin of weapon handling - he pointed it in jest at another soldier. 'He cocked the rifle and, in a standing position, he pointed it in the direction of Rifleman Vakabua, who was laying on his bed a few metres away having nap. Edward Vakabua was shot in the head while based at Saddam Hussein's presidential palace in Basra 'To cap it all, he put his finger on the trigger and pulled the trigger, discharging one round which shot Rifleman Vakabua in the head and killed him. 'Rifleman Kendrick's actions, in his handling or mishandling of the rifle, showed wanton disregard for normal safety precautions, which he, as a trained infantry soldier, was aware of. 'It was that gross negligence which directly resulted in the tragic death of Rifleman Vakabua. 'It is on this basis that the Crown says the accused is guilty of manslaughter.' Kendrick was deployed to Iraq in March 2007 and was based in a 'cluttered and cramped room' at Basra Palace with several colleagues, including Rifleman Vakabua. The court martial heard that only two men in his platoon, Lance Corporals Leigh Pool and Frank Taylor, were trained to use the sniper rifle and they both shared the same weapon. The panel was shown the rifle used in the fatal shooting, which is fitted with a telescopic sight and a bi-pod, and covered in desert camouflage cloth. Col Jones said that on June 6 last year, L Cpl Taylor collected the rifle from L Cpl Pool, and took it back to his room, which he also shared with Kendrick. L Cpl Taylor stashed the gun under his bunk while he went to collect further equipment for a strike operation, leaving a loaded magazine in it. It was while L Cpl Taylor was out of the room for a few moments that Kendrick decided to fiddle with the rifle and shot his sleeping comrade. Kendrick was interviewed by police and admitted accidentally firing the rifle at Rifleman Vakabua, known as Vaka to his friends. But he claimed he was not entirely to blame because he said the gun should not have been left with a loaded magazine in it. Orders at the time were that no weapons should be left loaded inside the barracks. But the court martial heard the platoon's two snipers regularly left 10-round magazines in the gun so they were prepared for emergencies. Kendrick told police: 'I had that gut instinct it was safe.' Kendrick has pleaded guilty to a charge of conduct prejudice of good order and military discipline through inappropriate and negligent handling of a weapon. The soldier, who had been in the army 18 months at the time of the shooting, denies manslaughter. Giving evidence, L Cpl Taylor said he walked back into his room to see Kendrick brandishing the sniper rifle. He said: 'The L96 was on his right shoulder and he was standing up, pointing it at where Vaka was sleeping. 'It was just a split second between me seeing him and hearing the shot. 'I looked to see where the shot had hit and rushed over to Vaka's bed space. I then saw that he had sustained a head injury.' Fijian L Cpl Taylor described Rifleman Vakabua as 'a quiet, happy person who was well-liked by everyone in the platoon'. Rifleman Vakabua, from Suva, Fiji, was hailed a hero shortly before his death for his role in saving a wounded colleague during an attack. He was manning a vulnerable rooftop observation post in Basra when it suffered a direct hit from an insurgent mortar, severely injuring a fellow soldier. He braved intense mortar fire after he volunteered to drive the man to a helicopter landing site for evacuation to hospital. Kendrick has pleaded guilty to a charge of conduct prejudice of good order and military discipline through inappropriate and negligent handling of a weapon, but he denies manslaughter. The hearing continues. The trial in Bulford, Wilts, continues. |
 Always assume a weapon is loaded… Never point a weapon at something you don't intend to shoot… Firearms 101, no excuses. |
Nothing more to add. This guy was a trained soldier on active service and should have known better, although why the weapon was lying around loaded in the accommodation is another matter. |
What he said... He cycled the bolt, pointed the rifle at his mates head and pulled the trigger.... |
Exactly - a fucking COCK |
The guys are on active service and even in barracks can come under attack with no warning; it is common if not standard practice to have loaded, but made safe, weapons at hand even by your bunk. It appears this weapon was made safe, ie loaded magazine on but no round in the chamber, the guy unfortunately whilst skylarking operated the bolt, chambered a round and fired.
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Again - exactly - it appears that the weapon was made safe, so would need several distinct actions to chamber and fire a round on the L96. But even if it was made ready with the safety catch on, even if it was not a bolt action, even if whatever - pointing the fucking thing at a bloke is just plain wrong! Having been nearly shot on more than one occasion (& only once by the spams) the biggest lesson is don't point gats at people you don't want to shoot! |
Sorry, I did not express that properly.  I recognise the need to have weapons to hand in the circumstances of Iraq and Afghanistan, I still maintain that he should have known better than to dick around with it. Surely there are opportunities to get hold of one safely and even put a few rounds through it, it makes sense to be familiar with any weapon that might come to hand in event of an attack. My active service in Dhofar 1976 - 1977 was very tame by comparison to what is going on now, we had plenty of weapons around at Salalah yet managed to avoid shooting anyone. |
Totally agree, not trying to provide excuses just clarifying Wapinschaw_Shooter's post. NEVER POINT A WEAPON AT SOMETHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO SEE DESTROYED |
Unfortunately no matter how stringent your safety precautions are, there is always some idiot that will overcome common sense and cause a tragedy like this. |
Just been speaking to an old mucker of mine - we both agree that two years in Colly is not cool, but better then 30-40 unexpected years in a box... I still think that the title of this thread is the perfect summing up of such twatish behaviour. We've all been shot at, sometimes by our friends, but this really takes the fucking biscuit. Apologies for my rant, but what a fucking COCK!!!!! |
Will he do Colly  Two years Back in the stone age when I was still in anything over a year to 18 months was automatically HMP?I still think it's a tragedy on all counts, two years isn't an adequate term for such an act, even if negligence/stupidity was root factor. Fug it. Tony |
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back in the 90's in Northern Ireland a little git put 15 rounds from his into his team commander, because he was stressed when he got a bollocking for screwing up again!! as far as I can remember he was out before four years were up and he had every intention of killing. there is no justice Nick |
What he said |
OOHH Ouch....  "Piss off" is actually a generally British imperative commonly used as a signal of angry dismissal. www.thehighroad.org obviously lacks the humour we have here.... 
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Ok now I have a pain in my headache. |
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aha missing comma, blast. piss off, is an americaninm picked up lurking on the www.thehighroad.org gun board. Translation booger hook = finger, bang toggle = trigger. and the comment was intended in the flippant jocular sense not the deliberate attack sense as in the phrase not bloody likely. |