Soldier kills his friend, gets two years.

clipped from www.modoracle.com Two Years for Killing Fellow Soldier A soldier who killed a comrade by shooting him in the head as he messed around with a sniper's rifle in Iraq was yesterday sent to a military detention centre but was not dismissed from the army. Almost 40 years ago, the Army, under pressure from the wholly civilian MoD, brought in a ludicrous charge into QR&R's of negligent(accidental) discharge of a weapon. At the time, there were sufficient protests to challenge this Rule, not only because...if you train a soldier to a sufficient level of competence, then this type of incident would never occur - a position the civilians in the MoD could never understand. With this charge came a mandatory 28 day Corrective Training - cells to you and me - for anyone discharging a weapon unlawfully. What was never understood was that the intent or otherwise - mens rea and actus rheus - of each incident could never be verified or established. At this period of time, especially in the Royal Marines, every incident of a negligent discharge was accompanied with a Board of Inquiry. Not until the Inquiry had sat could a Charge be made against the person discharging a weapon. Under no circumstances had the bright sparks realised that when a weapon is discharged there are inevitable consequences. If you shoot yer gun and it hits a wall, 28 days? If you wound or kill your best oppo, life? It is a preposterous and stupid situation that should take pages to expand on because of the nuances and understanding of Law, least to say it is the mess that the highly paid Officers and Civil authorities have brought upon us all, worst of all the for victims.