Going Nuclear

Sailor in court over sub shootings

11 April 2011



Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux died after being shot on board HMS Astute in Southampton

A Royal Navy sailor has appeared in court accused of the murder of a colleague and the attempted murders of three other crew members on board a nuclear submarine.

Able Seaman Ryan Samuel Donovan, 22, of Hillside Road, Dartford, Kent, spoke only to confirm his name, age and address during the short hearing at Southampton Magistrates' Court.

Donovan is charged with the murder of Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36, who was fatally shot on board HMS Astute while it was docked in Southampton, Hampshire, on Friday.

He is also charged with the attempted murders of Petty Officer Christopher Brown, 36, Chief Petty Officer David McCoy, 37, and Lieutenant Commander Christopher Hodge, 45.

Donovan, who was wearing a black T-shirt and appeared to be unshaven, was remanded in custody to appear at Winchester Crown Court on Wednesday April 13.

Nick Hawkins, prosecuting, said the case could have been handled internally by the armed forces but it had been agreed that it would be held in the civilian courts.

The shootings took place as local dignitaries, including the city council's mayor, chief executive and leader, were being given a tour of the submarine while it was berthed at the Eastern Docks on a five-day official visit to the city.

HMS Astute has been cleared to leave Southampton and return to its base at Faslane, Scotland.

Mr Hawkins, the chief prosecutor for Hampshire Crown Prosecution Service, said because the defendant is a serviceman he also falls under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces.

"The Armed Forces do have jurisdiction but during the course of the weekend I had discussions with the director of service prosecutions and we are in agreement this case is properly to be tried in the civilian courts and therefore should be dealt with no differently to any other murder or attempted murder cases that appears before your court."

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Sailor in court over sub shootings

13 April 2011


A Royal Navy sailor is due in court accused of the murder of a colleague and the attempted murders of three other crew on board HMS Astute

A Royal Navy sailor is due to make his first crown court appearance accused of the murder of a colleague and the attempted murders of three other crew on board a nuclear submarine.

Able Seaman Ryan Samuel Donovan, 22, of Hillside Road, Dartford, Kent, was remanded in custody at Southampton Magistrates' Court on Monday until the hearing at Winchester Crown Court.

Donovan has been charged with the murder of Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36, who was fatally shot on board HMS Astute while it was docked in Southampton, Hampshire, on Friday.

He has also been charged with the attempted murders of Petty Officer Christopher Brown, 36, Chief Petty Officer David McCoy, 37, and Lieutenant Commander Christopher Hodge, 45.

The hearing is the first chance that the defendant is able to make an application for bail although it is unclear at this stage whether he will do so.

The hearing on Monday was told by Nick Hawkins, chief prosecutor for Hampshire Crown Prosecution Service, that the Director of Service Prosecutions had agreed to hand over jurisdiction of the case to the civilian courts.

Mr Hawkins said that the allegation against Donovan was that he fired an SA80 rifle six times, aiming at the four named victims, killing Lt Cdr Molyneux.

Lt Cdr Molyneux's widow, Gillian, described the father-of-four from Wigan as "utterly devoted to his family". She added: "Everything he did was for us. He was very proud to be an officer in the Royal Navy Submarine Service."

The shootings took place as local dignitaries, including the city council's mayor, chief executive and leader, were being given a tour of the submarine while it was berthed at the Eastern Docks on a five-day official visit to the Hampshire city.

HMS Astute was cleared to leave Southampton on Monday afternoon to return to its base at Faslane, Scotland.

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UK's nuclear sub secrets revealed

17 April 2011


Secret information about the UK's nuclear-powered submarines was inadvertently published on a website

Defence chiefs have been forced into an embarrassing emergency retraction after secret information about the UK's nuclear-powered submarines was inadvertently published on a website.

A technical error meant sections of a Ministry of Defence report which appeared to have been blacked out could in fact be read by anyone who copied and pasted them into another document.

The offending paragraphs have now been properly covered up but were reported to include expert opinion about the fleet's ability to withstand a catastrophic accident.

And details of measures used by the US Navy to protect its own nuclear submarines were also accidentally made available, according to the Daily Star Sunday newspaper which alerted the MoD to the problem.

Tory MP Patrick Mercer, who served in the Army, told the newspaper the information would be "hugely interesting" to Britain's enemies and its release "potentially catastrophic".

The document involved was an assessment drawn up by the head of the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator, Commodore Andrew McFarlane, over options for the reactors in future submarines to replace the Trident fleet.

In sections released intentionally on the Parliament website, it concluded that the existing reactors were "potentially vulnerable" to fatal accidents - leading ministers to suggest new versions would be used.

Some parts of the declassified document were redacted when it was published, to protect sensitive information but the technique used meant the words were still electronically available underneath.

An MoD spokesman said: "The MoD is grateful to the journalist for bringing this matter to our attention.

"As soon as we were told about this, we took steps to ensure the document was removed from the public domain and replaced by a properly redacted version. We take nuclear security very seriously and we are doing everything possible to prevent a recurrence of this."

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