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Navy commander guilty of groping named

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff ,
Publish Date
Wed, 18 May 2016, 1:36PM
File photo of the Devonport Naval Base (Edward Swift)

Navy commander guilty of groping named

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff ,
Publish Date
Wed, 18 May 2016, 1:36PM

The Navy commander found guilty of groping a more junior officer has been named as Philip Wiig.

LISTEN ABOVE: Peter Dunne talks to Larry Williams

The final stages of a court martial have been underway this morning at the Navy's base in Auckland.

Wiig was found guilty yesterday by a court panel of a charge of indecent assault.

He groped the woman at the base's bar after a function on board HMNZS Canterbury four years ago [May 17 2012].

Wiig had known the lieutenant for more than a decade.

His name suppression was lifted this morning at the court martial, which has been hearing sentencing details.

The case has previously been considered by a military panel in March, but it couldn't reach a verdict.

The case has prompted a Government minister to say military personnel should be tried for crimes in the public justice system and it could be time to scrap military courts.

United Future leader and Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne said recent high-profile cases of military personnel being tried raised questions about whether courts martial should continue.

"I think it is a hang over from wartime situations, and clearly there is the issue of military discipline in that type of situation," he told the Herald.

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about where people commit criminal offences ... I think they should be tried in the criminal courts, not subject to military discipline."

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