Trooper gets severe reprimand for going AWOL

AN EXPERIENCED officer has been severely reprimanded, fined and asked to consider her position in the armed forces after going absent without leave from her duties.

Trooper Paula Staunton, 34, based at Collins Barracks in Cork city, received the formal rebuke after arriving at the army facility an hour later than scheduled.

The incident occurred on the morning of January 14, 2010, at the height of the severe winter weather.