Whilst the public run around bashing the Australian police at every opportunity they get, the media’s attention has recently seemed to focus on our military.

If we’re not blaming them for being cautious in dealing with asylum shoppers who have just blown up their own boat, then we’re accusing them of having something to do with the death of anti-social loners like Edward McBride.

I love news articles like this.

AN army private found dead in mysterious circumstances had been bullied by others in his unit for keeping to himself and refusing to get drunk, a court has been told.

An inquest into his death got underway in the Brisbane Coroners Court today, where evidence was heard that Mr McBride had been the victim of bullying while in the army.


Ooh that doesn’t sound good. His big bad buddies in the military were bullying him around were they?

Former private Benton Davidson told the court he recalled an incident when Mr McBride had been king hit to the head for declining to skol a cocktail of drinks from a helmet.

“There was a fair bit of peer pressure to drink (and) I knew that McBride didn’t drink,” Mr Davidson said.

“They took offence to it and punched him.”


Admittedly if true, that’s a bit rough. Although it does sound a bit far fetched. Since when has someone gotten upset over having more alcohol to themselves when someone refuses a drink?

The article does mention that Davidson is a former private but makes no mention as to why he left the army. Yeah, no chance of any bias there.

Mr Davidson described Mr McBride as a hard worker and “easily approachable”, but added he was quiet and tried not to draw attention to himself.

The court was told this did not win him favour with other members of his section, who described him as “not very likeable” and “strange”.


So from the sounds of it, we have an anti-social non-drinker (not that there’s anything wrong with not drinking) who everyone thought was strange and not-likeable. Generally speaking, and I’m going out on a limb here, people don’t just find you strange and non-likeable – especially in the army.

I mean you’re hanging around these people a lot and at some point potentially entrusting your life into their hands so despite a bit of rough stuff you’d have to be trying pretty hard to be the regiment loner.

After the article is done army bashing, what should have been in the first paragraph is then mentioned in passing.

Mr McBride’s father, Alan McBride, gave evidence he had believed his son to be “buoyant” and planning a new career in the weeks leading up to his death.

He said his son had been planning on getting out of the army and that he had aspirations to become an auditor with the Church of Scientology, which he had joined 18 months earlier.


Ah, good old Scientology. Yes I’m sure that had nothing to do with anything.

Incase anyone’s wondering what a Scientology ‘auditor’ is, apparently it’s a bunch of people trained to listen to people, give them counselling and then manipulate them via mild hypnosis.

Yeah this keeps getting better and better.

Edward McBride was found hanging at an energy station up in Brisbane. The cause of his death curiously wasn’t found to be hanging but rather via electrocution.

McBride was also a trained electrician.

The sad thing is even if this poor bugger was feeling down and needed some help, Scientology practically forbids him from seeking out conventional treatment methods. A now infamous case in the states cited that the church took away anti-depressant medication from one of  its members.

A mother has sued the Church of Scientology after her son, Kyle Brennan, 20, committed suicide. He was on antidepressants, but his father Thomas Brennan allegedly took away the prescription drugs as part of his Scientology beliefs.

After only one week with his father in Clearwater, Florida, Kyle committed suicide.


Then of course there was Tom Cruise running around a few years back now publicly having a go over Brooke Shield’s use of anti-depressants to treat post natal depression.

So what’s more probable, McBride’s army buddies actually hoisting the guy up and electrocuting him for being anti-social and strange, or the trained electrician setting himself up with some rope on an electricity station and ending his life?

If true I’m definitely not trying to excuse the bullying accusations, but I think there’s probably way more here at play then simple army shenanigans.


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