Top brass slammed for 'losing control' after latest incident where teenage girl was knocked over by a man thought to be a Royal Navy officer as MPs demand action.
no respect for authority, report the Daily Record.
In the latest incident a teenage girl was knocked cold by a man thought to be a Royal Navy officer. But Navy top brass say there's no evidence Navy personnel are any more violent than the locals.
However Argyll MP Brendan O’Hara is demanding tougher action from the commodore of the Clyde naval base, police and the Ministry of Defence.
The Daily Record has obtained CCTV footage of several incidents involving men identified by locals as Royal Navy personnel.
The most recent shows a group of men involved in a scuffle at the Logie Baird pub in Helensburgh before slightly-built teenager Emma McGhie is knocked to the ground. She lies motionless as the melee continues.
Another clip shows a drinker being head-butted.
The Record told recently how restaurateur Milan Nikolic was accused of assault after he knocked out two Navy personnel. He was cleared after it was proven that he acted in self defence.
Since then, the problem has escalated with Emma, 18, taken to hospital and treated for concussion after a cowardly attack at the pub, which is owned by Milan and wife Cara.
Cara wrote to Faslane demanding a meeting with the base’s commander, Commodore Mark Gayfer – but he refused, fuelling claims that the issue is being swept under the carpet.
Cara wrote: “This is the latest in a long line of incidents involving Navy personnel. Clearly they are out of control. They have no respect for the publicans, our door staff or the law.
“I have had females punched, spat on and now purposely tripped over.
“Ultimately they are showing no respect to the base either and are an embarrassment to the service.
“These naval personnel are spoiling Helensburgh’s social scene for everyone else. I think it would be constructive if we could meet with the commanding officer to discuss our concerns.”
Cara blasted claims from Faslane top brass that Navy personnel are no more rowdy than Helensburgh locals.
She said: “That’s a load of nonsense. Any local licenced premises knows exactly who the Navy guys are from the way they look and talk.
“I have nothing against the Navy – my father is an English sub-mariner.
“The Navy need to face facts. They always want to sweep the problems under the carpet but something needs to be done.”
Door staff struggle to deal with incidents involving civilians and Navy staff (Image: Daily record WS)
Emma echoed calls to get the sailors under control. She said: “I was basically grabbed from behind and slammed to the ground for no reason. There was a pitched battle going on and the Navy guys were acting like a mob as usual.
“They were fighting with themselves and bouncers and that seems to happen in Helensburgh week in, week out.
“The guy who attacked me was a bully. He didn’t care what happened to me and didn’t even look back after my head banged on the ground.”
Emma’s dad Stuart, 47, said: “She is a tiny girl and she did nothing aggressive.
“She was picked on by a guy twice her size and tripped up so she would fall backwards on her head.
“It was a bullying thing to do and she could have been killed. I heard locally that the guy who did it may be an officer. If that’s the case, it would make it far worse.”
The Record told last month how Milan was charged with assault after submariners John Hamilton and Matthew Liptrott were refused alcohol in his Riverside Bar in Helensburgh.
CCTV showed how Milan hit back after Hamilton tried to attack him. He knocked Hamilton out and decked Liptrott too when he jumped in.
Despite their disgraceful conduct, neither of the Navy men was punished by the base.
MP O’Hara wrote to Commodore Gayfer asking him to put men on notice that loutish behaviour would not be tolerated.
He also asked the MoD and civilian police if they could increase their presence in Helensburgh.
O’Hara pointed out that many more Navy personnel are to be shifted to Faslane in the next few years, bringing the total from 6800 to 8200.
He said: “It is essential that publicans, restaurant owners and the residents of the town are reassured that such behaviour will not be tolerated by the MoD or the civilian authorities.”
In nearby Balloch, members of the local Pubwatch scheme banned Navy personnel after an incident involving a group of around seven submariners.
After drinking shots in one pub – where one man was sick on the floor – they moved on The Tullie bar, where they began fighting among themselves and a glass was smashed over a sailor’s head.
The group later tried to force their way into an under-18 disco at the nearby Desire club, where staff were attacked.
A Desire spokesman said of the ban: “It’s with huge regret we find ourselves in this position. We must think of patrons’ safety and the licence of our business.
“We have had a number of serious incidents involving military personnel and one particularly serious incident when we had a number trying to gain access to a children’s party and attacking staff.
“We have tried every other avenue and this is the only option. We are open to any suggestions as to move this issue forward.”
Other recent incidents include a Royal Marine from Faslane vaulting the counter of the Clyde Bar in Helensburgh, guzzling beer from a tap then spraying the soft drink dispenser around the bar.
Earlier this month, Faslane personnel were involved in a pitched brawl on the main street after being thrown out of a local pub. CCTV caught one submariner head-butting a friend.
A Royal Navy spokesman said Faslane’s commander would not meet with local publicans.
He added: “We have been presented with no evidence to support the assertion that the number of Service personnel committing offences in the local area is higher than the number of civilians who commit offences.
“As with their civilian counterparts, there can sometimes be a minority whose behaviour is unacceptable.
“There are a range of measures which can be taken, including and up to discharge from the Service.”
Police Scotland confirmed they had received a letter from O’Hara relating to the conduct of Navy personnel.
They said a 33-year-old man would be reported to the procurator fiscal over an alleged incident on July 13.
Royal Navy catalogue of shame
-A teenage girl was hospitalised with concussion after being knocked to the ground by a Navy officer during a drunken scuffle.
-A local restaurateur who intervened when two drunken submariners terrorised staff after being refused alcohol was charged with assault but was subsequently found not guilty.
-Sailors and Royal Marines from Faslane were handed a three-month ban from licensed premises in Balloch after a series of shocking incidents.
-A marauding group of sailors started a bar fight, smashed a glass over the head of one of their party then attacked club staff as they tried to force entry to under-18s disco.
-A Royal Marine from Faslane naval base jumped over the bar in a Helensburgh pub and began guzzling beer from a tap then sprayed the soft drink dispenser around the bar.
-A group of Faslane personnel were involved in a pitched brawl on a main street after being thrown out of a local pub for causing a fight.
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