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A senior engineer in the Royal Navy has been locked up after he sparked a drunken punch up in a Chinese takeaway when a fellow sailor mocked his choice of noodles.
Petty Officer Kris Cullerton hit colleague Zeek Bowen after he told him his choice of a £7 vermicelli was a ‘a bit heavy after a night out’, a court martial heard.
The Air Engineering Technician (AET) told a military court he ended up with a bloody nose and swollen lip after his superior became ‘aggressive’ towards him and his colleague Shaun Bush.
AET Bowen said PO Cullerton called him a ‘smart arse’ and hit him, leaving his lip swollen and the facemask he was wearing ‘drenched’ in blood.
Although the 33-year-old denied any physical contact taking place, he was found guilty of one count of battery.
PO Cullerton now faces 90 days in military custody where a judge said he must address his ‘easy resort to violence’ and ‘relationship with alcohol’.
Bulford Military Court, Wilts, heard he has five previous convictions, two of ABH and three of battery – one of which included pushing a bouncer in a nightclub in 2018.
Although he retains his title of Petty Officer, the judge warned it acts as an ‘incentive’ to ‘prove that he can live up to his rank’ and he faces a ‘severe reprimand’ if he comes before the court again.
The trial had heard that on October 2 last year, the sailors had gone to the Dolphin Inn and the Bull pub in Ilchester, Somerset, while stationed at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, also known as HMS Heron.
The court was told PO Cullerton – a Senior Air Engineering Technician – drank up to eight pints of beer and admitted he was ‘drunk’ when he went to the nearby Chinese takeaway, the Peking Chef.
AET Bowen and AET Bush were already there waiting for their order.
After AET Bowen made the comment about PO Cullerton’s choice of food, the senior sailor began ‘screaming in his face’ and ‘whacked’ his friend in the face.
AET Bush told the court: “He was mumbling to himself and uneasy on his feet. He started screaming in my face but I could not work out what he was saying. I was just in shock.
“It looked like an open hand whack to the face.”
The court heard PO Cullerton, a married man and father from Sunderland, was then locked outside the takeaway before he left, noodles in hand.
After returning to base, the young engineers made a complaint to the Royal Navy’s police force and PO Cullerton was interviewed and he claimed only a verbal disagreement had happened in the takeaway.
The court martial heard claims PO Cullerton, whose career spans more than 14 years, had then accosted the sailors in the street. However, he was found not guilty of three charges of battery relating to those allegations.
Sentencing him, Judge Jane England said: “You heard one of them make a comment which you took great exception to and you overreacted.
“You shouted and swore and then struck him hard enough to cause a nose bleed and a fat lip.
“You must learn: if it makes you lose your temper, you need to modify your drinking as it is not the first time it has got you in trouble.
“In 2018, you were given a 28 day suspended sentence for nine months but that has not had an affect on you because you are here again.”
Judge England told PO Cullerton it was significant that AET Bowen was struck by someone ‘senior’ who he should ‘look up to’.
PO Cullerton was handed 90 days which he will spend in the military corrective training centre and he must pay AET Bowen £250.
