Soldier launched knife attack on corporal after row over messy room

Telegraph

16-05-2025

A soldier launched a knife attack on his superior in a row over his messy room, a court heard.
Fusilier Hezron Harper stabbed Corporal Geraint Evans-Dymond with a weapon similar to a Swiss army knife after an argument over the state of his accommodation.
He has been dismissed from the Army and jailed for 26 months for grievous bodily harm and assault.
Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire heard the incident took place late at night on May 28 last year when the two soldiers – who were part of the first battalion of the Royal Welsh regiment – were in Germany on return from a deployment to Estonia.
Lt Col Felicity Bryson, prosecuting, said Cpl Evans-Dymond had entered a room where troops were sleeping and took issue with 'failures to maintain the accommodation to the standard directed'.
The prosecutor told the court that Cpl Evans-Dymond, 35, directed his anger at his 34 year old junior.
She said: 'Cpl Dymond had flipped Fus Jones's bunk bed over – this took quite some strength, they were bolted to the floor.'
The corporal is said to have then grabbed Fus Jones by the chest and told him to sort out his 'f***ing admin' before pushing him to the wall.
The fusilier retaliated by running at Cpl Evans-Dymond with his Gerber knife and then biting him, the court heard.
He was pulled away by two sergeants but Cpl Evans-Dymond was injured in the attack.
Fiona Edington, defending Fus Harper, said he experienced a 'red mist', and that his actions were 'spontaneous and stupid'.
She said: 'He regrets that he even reacted to [Cpl Evans-Dymond's] bullying behaviour.
'In my submission, he was being bullied by someone who should've known better.'
She added that Fus Harper is from Grenada and hasn't been able to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK because of the pending outcome of the proceedings.
'No place in the modern army'
Cpl Evans-Dymond also attended the court hearing where he was demoted by one rank and sentenced to four months' service detention.
Assistant Judge Advocate General Jane England said his behaviour had no place in the Army.
She said to Cpl Evans-Dymond: 'You're described as having an old-school style of leadership – not to everyone's taste, direct and forceful.
'There's not always time for a please or a thank you, and sometimes directness is a way to get things done, particularly if soldiers are being lazy or lacking discipline.
'But flipping beds and attacking soldiers should be a thing of the distant past.'
She added: 'Behaviour such as flipping beds and pushing soldiers up against the wall has no place in the modern army.'
Defending Cpl Evans-Dymond, Libby Anderson said he was 'sleep deprived' following a 'long train journey'.
She said his wife had also recently suffered a miscarriage.
She added: 'The army has changed, and it has perhaps taken Corporal Dymond some time after promotion to realise that.
'He cannot compose himself now as a corporal perhaps as corporals did when he was a private soldier – but he does now recognise that.'