Soldier was kicked out of the Army 'after colleague swapped their urine samples to avoid cocaine rap'

An innocent soldier was thrown out of the Army after a comrade swapped a drugs test sample to avoid being caught for taking cocaine, a court martial was told yesterday.
Lance Corporal Anthony Molloy, 29, fooled the authorities by framing  John Warren-Beck, 24, who was doing  the routine urine test at the same time, it was claimed.
Despite protesting his innocence, Kingsman Warren-Beck was forced out of the Army weeks later.

Court martial: Tests showed John Warren-Beck, left, had taken cocaine and despite his protests that he had done nothing wrong, his army career was ended prematurely. Now L/C Molloy, 29, right, is facing a court martial

Determined to clear his name, he arranged for DNA tests to be carried out which proved the positive sample could not have been his.
A similar DNA test on Molloy proved he was the soldier who had cocaine in his system, the court martial at Catterick Garrison heard.

'The ultimate effect of switching the samples was the premature discharge from the Army of another soldier'

Captain Chris Adair

Prosecutor Captain Chris Adair said: ‘This was a deliberate attempt to evade the repercussions of a drugs test.’
Both men were members of the 2nd Battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment based in Preston. There was no evidence to suggest they were friends when the test took place in August 2009.
Mr Warren-Beck said he heard Molloy tell a sergeant before the test that he had taken cocaine two days earlier.
‘I heard him say it very clearly,’ he told the hearing.
The two men gave samples at the same time when an Army drugs team arrived at the barracks. The sample containers were put on a window sill and Molloy left first, picking up his junior colleague’s sample rather than his own, the hearing heard.
Later Mr Warren-Beck saw the defendant and allegedly said to him: ‘You had better not have swapped with me.’ Molloy is said to have replied: ‘I swear I would not do that.’
Explaining his comment, Mr Warren-Beck said: ‘I said that  to him because of what I had heard earlier.’

Test: Both men were tested at the Regiment’s headquarters at Fulwood Barracks, Preston, Lancashire in 2009

When he returned from leave Mr Warren-Beck was told his sample had tested positive for cocaine and he was discharged from the Army. ‘I knew it was not right because I had not taken any drugs,’ he said. Although he was planning to quit the Army anyway, he said he took matters further to clear his name.
DNA tests then revealed the error. Molloy is said to have become ‘visibly upset’ when told the results of the analysis. He had agreed to the DNA tests after denying doing anything wrong.

Molloy has denied a charge of conduct prejudice of good order and military discipline by switching his drug test sample with another. Captain Adair told the hearing: ‘This case is the result of the deliberate tampering of two drug test samples. The ultimate effect of switching the samples was the premature discharge from the Army of another soldier.’
He said that by denying the charge, Molloy ‘is challenging most aspects of the prosecution’s case’. ‘The key issue is whether Lance Corporal Molloy switched that sample deliberately. We say he did, to deliberately evade the repercussions of the drugs test.’
Cross-examined by Simon Reevell, defending, Mr Warren-Beck admitted that at first he had suggested the samples had been switched in error.
The hearing continues.