Officer breaks down as he tells Defence Forces Tribunal soldier's suicide 'still affects me to this day'

David Henry, a former acting company sergeant in the Army Apprentice School in Devoy Barracks, also told the tribunal that he asked 2LT.B to 'ease back' on his treatment of apprentices. Photo: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

A non-commissioned officer broke down at the Defence Forces Tribunal as he recalled seeing the body of Oliver Mullaney after he died by suicide.

David Henry, a former acting company sergeant in the Army Apprentice School in Devoy Barracks, said what he saw affects him “to this day”.

Mr Henry, who retired from the army in 1998, also told the tribunal that he was “ashamed” to have been an NCO in the 34th Platoon where Mr Mullaney had served until his death.

The 19-year-old is alleged to have been the victim of relentless bullying and victimisation by an officer, who cannot be named for legal reasons and gave evidence under the pseudonym 2LT.B.

Mr Mullaney killed himself on June 22, 1991, just two days after a training day in which he is alleged to have been targeted by 2LT.B.

The alleged bullying and mistreatment then was the latest, at the time, of a series of incidents dating back to 1989, when 2LT.B was alleged to have ordered an apprentice to eat cigarette butts from an ashtray.

At the tribunal Mr Henry said: “Here, in front of everybody, I am ashamed to be a company sergeant of an apprentice company with people carrying on like that.

“I have never forgotten what I saw that (June 22) night and it still affects me to this day.

“To the apprentices of the 34th Platoon, I apologise to each and every single one of them here and now. That is something that I, as (company sergeant), thought I'd never have to face."

He added: “Thinking back over it... we should have been brought into that barracks, at that stage of the game, counseling for every member of that platoon, including the people that were on duty, and including the people that came off duty.” 

He said that “no counselling came in, we had to take it on board, wear the uniform, and keep going”.

I'll be out straight with you, my mind was all over the place and I'd say every single individual in that platoon and who was on guard just didn't know whether they were coming or going.

He also told the tribunal that he asked 2LT.B to “ease back” on his treatment of apprentices. He recalled a “heated discussion” shortly after Mr Mullaney’s death in which fellow NCOs admitted apprentices “were being trained too hard”.

He also labeled as “abuse” an incident he was aware of — but hadn’t witnessed — in which 2LT.B had ordered apprentices to stand still as he cut their hair he deemed to be too long.

He said: “By no means should you put a hand on an apprentice in any way whatsoever unless you're teaching him how to do things. If you put a hand on a person's hair like that to cut it, that is an abuse.”