Four Soldiers Charged (Press, 13 November 1962)
This is a Generative AI summary of this newspaper article. It may contain errors or omissions. Please note that the language in the summary is reflective of the original article and the societal attitudes of the time in which it was written.
Summary: Four Soldiers Charged (Press, 13 November 1962)
On 12 November 1962, the Magistrate's Court in Palmerston North heard guilty pleas from four soldiers from the Linton Army Camp on multiple charges of indecent assault on males. Mr D. G. Sinclair, S.M. presided over the case, with Mr H. Y. Gilliand representing all the accused. The court dealt with a total of 18 charges, with three of the accused being remanded in custody until 19 November for a probation officer's report and sentencing. The fourth accused, a 19-year-old, was granted bail. Among the accused was Bertram Harvey, aged 40, who pleaded guilty to nine counts related to offences committed at the Linton and Waiouru military establishments between April 1959 and November 1962. Detective Senior-Sergeant F. A. Gordon informed the court that Harvey had submitted a statement concerning his homosexual activities, although he did not intend to present it during the proceedings, instead passing it directly to the magistrate. William John Leslie Story, aged 24, entered a guilty plea to five charges stemming from incidents at Linton between February and November 1962. Robert Martin Peeples, aged 23, admitted to two charges at Linton, which arose from investigations at those military establishments. Notably, it was mentioned that Peeples held a commission within the army. The fourth soldier, Rodney William John Wilkinson, aged 19, also faced two charges at Linton and had been suspended from duty during the legal process. The court proceedings brought to light serious allegations of sexual misconduct within the military establishments and raised questions about the conduct and oversight within the armed forces during that period. The implications of these offences and the varying ages and ranks of the accused highlighted broader issues concerning discipline and behaviour among servicemen.
Important Information
The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact
The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand