Decorated Irish soldier loses rank after indecent exposure

Despite heroic service he is demoted after incident

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An Irish solder has lost an appeal to prevent his demotion over an incident in a hotel where he exposed himself to a female colleague and another woman, reports the Independent.

Private Damien McDonagh, who once held the rank of army corporal, appealed a June 2009 decision to demote him as the loss of rank meant a drop in income of some $9,200 per annum.

McDonagh, who has worked as an instructor for trainee soldiers, got himself into trouble on St. Patrick’s Day 2007 at a hotel in County Louth where he was attending an event to herald the passage of that year’s recruits.

The 27-year-old, who was a decorated ranger with campaigns in Liberia and Kosovo to his name, admitted that he exposed himself, used unbecoming language and grabbed both his colleague’s head and the other woman’s head. 

The soldier recognized that what he did was not right but said that he was so inebriated that say that he has no recollection of the end of that particular function where the incident occurred.

The soldier, who was fined €500 for the incident and who has apologized for his actions, had no problem with the financial penalty but decided to appeal the loss of rank.

While the appeals court acknowledged that the infraction was out of character for the soldier and that alcohol was a factor, the judge could still find no reason to overturn the initial decision to demote the soldier.
 

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