BDF Chief of Staff reviewing outcome of court martial

Chief of Staff of the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) Colonel Glyne Grannum is reviewing the outcome of the court martial of Private Shane Coulthrust, the BDF said Sunday.

Last Friday, the matter ended with 33-year-old Coulthrust being handed a sentence of “discharge with ignominy from the Barbados Defence Force.”

He went on trial last month on nine charges of misconduct while on duty on a coast guard vessel on April 19, 2019.

Private Coulthrust was found guilty of going off course without authorization and using his personal cell phone while on duty, in contravention of the Coast Guard’s Standing Orders.

In a statement today, the BDF said that Colonel Grannum “is reviewing the findings and sentence of the Court Martial of Private Shane Coulthrust, pursuant to Defence Act 159 and the Defence Rules of Procedures 1984.

At Friday’s hearing Coulthrust asked to court to be lenient in its sentencing.

“I try my best every day to be of my best but being my best isn’t always best. If punishment is given I ask that it be lenient because I have a wife and young child,” he said, while pointing out that he enjoyed working at the BDF.