Soldiers jailed after sit-down protest during parade
A group of soldiers has been imprisoned for staging a mutiny on parade in front of 1,000 people.
Sixteen servicemen from the Yorkshire Regiment 1st Batallion complained that they were “led by muppets” and sat down when ordered to stand to attention while on tour in Kenya.
The soldiers pleaded guilty of disobeying a lawful command, which carries a maximum ten-year sentence.
The ‘ringleader’, Cpl Anthony Brown, was dismissed from the Army and ordered to serve 60 days in military detention as a judge said he had “abused” his power.
Lance Cpls Miles Smith and Steven Tidesley also got 60 days at Bulford military court in Wiltshire, while the remaining 13 privates were given 40 days.
At the time of the protest, the soldiers were in 1st Battallion. However, following army restructuring the 1st has now become the 2nd.
Soldiers jailed after sit-down protest during parade
He said problems surfaced when their commanders got drunk before a 16-mile training march in freezing conditions in the Brecon Beacons, mid-Wales, last winter.
The troops were furious at finding the pair – named as Captain Stanton and second-in-command Sergeant Scott Dyson - sleeping off their hangovers at the finish line instead of greet their returning soldiers.
Members of the 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment pictured in Southern Iraq in 2007
Tensions boiled over at the end of the Askari Thunder training exercise on the plains of Kenya on February 12, the court heard.
Shortly before a parade at the main British base, the 16 soldiers decided to protest against the 'grievances' they felt.
As they went through their drills, a ringleader shouted 'sit down' and the dissenters dropped to ground. Commanders ordered each man in turn to stand up but were ignored.
Col Whitwham said: 'There was a feeling they were not being appreciated, that they were not being well managed.