Soldier’s Denial At Court-Martial

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31584, 23 January 1968, Page 11

Soldier’s Denial At Court-Martial

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) VUNG TAU, January 22. A 22-year-old Australian national serviceman who has been on trial for murder before a court-martial in South Vietnam told the court today on oath that he had nothing to do with the incident in which an Australian officer was killed.

Lieutenant Robert Graham Birse, aged 23, died in hospital in Vung Tau on December 10 after a grenade had exploded in his tent Gunner Leonard Edward Newman, a married man, of Brisbane, today elected to go before the court to give evidence and be available for cross-examination by the prosecution.

His decision came after thfe failure by the defence yesterday to persuade the JudgeAdvocate to rule there was no case to answer. But the Judge-Advocate (Colonel M. J. Ewing) did rule, as a point of law, that he must direct the court to acquit the accused of the murder charge. The charge was then re-

duced to one of manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Newman told the court that while at the Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat before Operation Forrest, during which Lieutenant Birse died, smoke grenades were thrown on a number of occasions.

“I had a smoke grenade thrown at me when I was in a tent with some others,” he said. Newman denied evidence by an earlier witness who had quoted him as saying: “I will throw a grenade in Birse’s tent.”

Newman said he was sleeping at the time of the explosion which killed Lieutenant Birse.