A young soldier has been sentenced to serve four years in prison and will be kicked out of the military for fatally shooting his tentmate while they were serving together in Afghanistan.
Military judge Cmdr. Peter Lamont handed down the sentence against Cpl. Matthew Wilcox on Wednesday morning, more than two years after his tentmate, Cpl. Kevin Megeney, was killed.
Lamont said Wilcox’s actions demonstrated a pattern of negligent behaviour that led to the death of a fellow soldier.
“He violated (the) trust of his colleagues,” Lamont said in court, adding that he was obliged to give Wilcox the minimum sentence under the civilian Criminal Code.
“In this case, I’m unable to say how the offence can be considered any less grave for sentencing purposes just because it occurred overseas,” the judge said.
The 24-year-old Wilcox will also be dismissed from the military and banned from owning a weapon for five years.
[More]
Updates:
4:34 pm EDT, September 30th, 2009 — Wilcox to appeal sentence for killing soldier
If the military prison in Edmonton is run anything like the one that used to be in Valcartier Quebec Wilcox’s first 2 years are going to be real tough. I had the opportunity to deliver a sentenced prisoner to Val Cartier and was given a quick look around. Not your average prison is an understatement. The guy was a cocky smart ass when I dropped him off for his 3 month sentence for telling an officer to go f**k himself. Coincidently I also picked him up when his sentence was completed and let me tell you he was a very different person indeed.