John Culatto
POLICE have charged an eighth serving soldier with attacking police after Royal Marine commandos fought back while getting arrested at Ocean Village last Friday morning.
Officers arrested Rodui Aitchison, 25, on Wednesday and he appeared at the Magistrates’ Court Thursday charged with violent disorder, resisting and assaulting police.
Royal Marines injured seven police officers and a civilian who were trying to arrest them at about 4am around the entrance of Ocean Village Gym.
It followed Tuesday’s appearance at court when other seven defendants did not enter pleas for similar offences.
Magistrates chose to adjourn their trial until June 13 after they chose not to make any pleas before the court.
The soldiers belong to an elite 550-person unit Royal Marines called 43 Commando.
They are responsible for among other things, guarding the UK’s nuclear weapons and regularly visit the Rock.
“Response Team officers were required to use captor spray, baton tactics and unarmed defence tactics,” the Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) explained in a statement.
Witnesses watched in horror as these trained soldiers suddenly turned on their own side and violently attacked officers.
The fight to subdue the commandos was so intense the RGP had to call the Gibraltar Defence Police for backup.
In an angry tweet the day after, Gibraltar’s Commissioner of Police Richard Ullger hit out at the violent military attackers for giving his officers ‘cuts, bruises and bloody noses’.
“Our officers are not punch bags and should be respected for upholding the law,” he added on Twitter.
Videos showed various officers tussling with the soldiers, most who appeared drunk.
In the videos, the commandos are seen clutching their heads in pain as the police sprayed their eyes with pepper spray.
It was a tactic that seemed to be a determining factor in the final arrests.
Some people in the Commissioner’s tweet even called for officers to be armed with tazers in these sorts of extreme scenarios.
And the story blew up on the UK national daily newspapers as the Daily Mail picked up on The Olive Press report.
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