A FORMER Naval seaman who claimed he was pulled out of his bunk and dropped on the ground by a superior lost his action for damages in the High Court in Cork yesterday after failing to prove his case.
Mr James Mackey, a native of Cobb but now living in Fermoy, sued the Minister for Defence after fracturing his back in the alleged incident which occurred in November 1989 on board the LE Orla which was berthed in Dublin.
He said he did not report what had really happened because he was at the lowest rank in the Naval Service and he did not want to be thought of as a snitch.
Mr Justice Moriarty, in his ruling, referred to The Winslow Boy syndrome, which was a drama based on an incident in the British navy in which Lord Edward Carson gave a judgment vindicating a victim who was falsely accused.
The judge said bearing in mind the Naval witnesses had a justifiable fear of reprisals, this could be a potential motive for their lack of candour in their evidence. They would not want to be branded snitches or sneaks by fellow member as there was a camaraderie between them which he euphemistically called "holding the line".
He had observed the plaintiff during the latter portion of the case. He did not display the discomfort of someone racked by the pain of which he had complained. This was not unfair to the plaintiff, because he had failed to discharge the onus of proof.
Mr Mackey said at 7.15 a.m. Leading Steward Michael Shepherd came to the sleeping quarters to call them. He was in the top bunk of a three tiered unit and was zipped into his sleeping bag.
"I was in the process of waking up when he caught the sleeping bag and pulled me from the bunk. I fell on the ground on my back and he laughed as he was walking away," said Mr Mackey.
He said he lay screaming in pain and later went to Mr Shepherd and told him it was a stupid thing to do, that he could have broken his back.
In evidence, Mr Shepherd said he believed that Mr Mackey was lying because he would have remembered if an incident such as he described had happened and he could not remember anything like that.