Incirlik airman found guilty of assault

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INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey (AFPN) --  An airman here was sentenced to five months confinement, forfeiture of $795 of pay per month for five months and a demotion to airman basic after being convicted of several crimes. This was Incirlik's first court martial since 2002.

Airman Basic Lionel Young, of the 39th Logistics Readiness Squadron, chose to be tried by a jury of officer and enlisted members. The jury found him guilty of assault consummated by battery, assault of a child younger than 16 and failure to obey a no-contact order.

Most of the charges arose out of events that occurred during a unit trip to the beach over the Labor Day weekend.

Airman Young was traveling with an airman from the 39th Medical Squadron and her daughter on a weekend bus tour. During her testimony, the 39th MDS airman said Airman Young drank during the trip to the beach. Once they arrived, she said Airman Young became increasingly agitated when she and her daughter socialized with friends on the beach.

"He was getting aggravated ... I didn't want my co-workers to hear," the 39th MDS airman said on the stand. "He told me I was spending too much time with my co-workers. I got my stuff and went back to the hotel. He followed us back to the room."

The airman said Airman Young "pushed his way" into the room, and after yelling and cursing at her, he hit her in the face repeatedly, grabbing her daughter in the process.

She said he held her and her daughter in the bathroom until Turkish people started banging on the door.

Using several co-workers and supervisors, the defense portrayed Airman Young as a good worker for whom the incident was completely out of character.

Government attorneys claimed this was not the case.

"The defense would have us think that we are dealing with a case of Jekyll and Hyde," said Capt. Arthur Ayo-Aghimien, 39th Air Base Group legal office assistant staff judge advocate, during his court speech. "You should be appalled and outraged at the behavior of this airman. He bashed in the face of another fellow airman. He broke the individual's nose."

Although the prosecution pushed for a charge of assault with a means or use of force that could likely produce death, jury members opted for the lesser assault offense. They found Airman Young not guilty of two counts of kidnapping and one count of obstruction of justice. (Courtesy of U.S. Air Forces in Europe News Service)