Three British servicemen from the £3.5bn UK aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales have been arrested for being drunk and disorderly during boozed-up trips ashore in Rotterdam.
UK Navy military police, civilian police and local security officials are stepping up patrols in the port city this weekend following a three day spate of drunken incidents involving British sailors.
One Royal Navy sailor was seized on Monday night, charged with being drunk and brawling with local authorities before police were forced to use a taser to control him. He is facing charges relating to being drunk in public and allegedly injuring two local police officers who suffered bruising in the incident in Rotterdam city centre.
The Daily Mirror understands other UK sailors may have been involved in the confrontation with the police but were not arrested. The first sailor seized will face the Dutch Court system.
A second Royal Navy man on the same evening from Monday to Tuesday was arrested and held by UK military police. He was charged with being drunk and in possession of a suspected “hard drug, possibly cocaine” according to Dutch Military Police. Local military police sources say the suspected hard drug is being tested.
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Both these first two incidents were separate and the second man is now in the custody of Royal Navy Police on board HMS Prince of Wales. He is expected to face the UK military legal system.
And a third member of the warship’s crew was seized on Wednesday for being drunk in the city centre and failing to produce his identity card. This third man was released without charge, forced to pay a fine and is now back on board HMS Prince of Wales.
Sources confirmed none of the three young men are officers and are all “junior sailors” as in from the lower ranks on board the ship. They were all dressed in civilian clothing when they were seized.
Dutch Military Police spokesman Captain Mike Hofman told the Daily Mirror: “We are treating these incidents as serious because they are unusual. We will be stepping up patrols in the city, along with local civilian and Royal Navy Police from the UK to prevent further incidents.”
The 800-strong crew of HMS Prince of Wales have spent weeks on the pan-European NATO exercise Steadfast Defender, the biggest post Cold War wargaming the alliance has undertaken.
The carrier, one of two of the Royal Navy’s biggest-ever warships and sister vessel of HMS Queen Elizabeth, will leave Rotterdam on Monday. She is the second of the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy and is expected to carry up to 48 F-35B Lightning stealth multi-role fighter jets.
She is also fitted to carry Merlin helicopters and a large unit of 250 Royal Marines plus attack helicopters. Sources have told the Daily Mirror that anyone caught in possession of hard drugs will be thrown out of the Royal Navy.
The UK Ministry of Defence is aware of the incidents and will be issuing a statement later this evening.
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