whenurhappy
I'm not condoning the WO's actions and do not wish to see him "off the hook". Sorry if I wasn't clear. What I'm saying is I'd like a barrister to make such a plea to bring out these facts in open court, forcing action against those who commit far greater crimes. I think it would be interesting citing such precedents and watching the MoD legal system twitch violently.
Nor am I "asserting" anything, merely offering for pprune consumption the contents of MoD and Ministerial letters which have been passed to me by my MP or obtained under FoI. It is an acknowledged fact that MoD staffs were for many years routinely instructed to commit fraud and disciplined if they did not. This commenced in December 1992 when we were threatened with dismissal by AMSO's DGSM for complaining about the direction that aircraft be allowed to be functionally unsafe so he could generate money to compensate for his policy of deliberate waste. Haddon-Cave got the phrase "Savings at the expense of safety" directly from that evidence.
While it happens less nowadays, the damage has been done (e.g. major contribution to the financial black hole) and Ministers have refused to expunge the personnel records of those so disciplined (i.e. they continue to condone this action).
As Chug says, this evidence has been placed before major inquiries and accepted without question; although they took no action. Similarly the RAF Provost Marshall, PUS, PAC, HCDC and Ministers. MoD themselves (i.e. those who brief Ministers) have claimed some of the evidence is forged, but they were made to look foolish when original copies, transcripts and recordings were forwarded to MPs. It has been a few years (April 2004) since they made that claim. Now they say the documents don't exist (which prompted Lord Philip to simply ask myself and others for copies!). But, as I say, MoD is self healing, mainly because those who brief Ministers are sitting in judgement of their own case.
One reason why these facts have not been exposed in open court is the sheer cost of bring such an action. Without revealing details or breaching confidences, suffice to say this was a major reason why Mull of Kintyre dragged on so long. Very few private individuals have the wherewithal to fund such a battle against the might of MoD, which makes the victories on MoK, Nimrod and C130 all the more sweet. All 3 cases were characterised by serial fraud (the making of false written declarations, knowing them to be false).
The real question that is never asked by MoD is this. Whose actions brought us to our knees? We hear of the "black hole" but why has there never been an open inquiry as to the cause? Some of the culprits are still serving. All have prospered.