Two soldiers appear in court martial accused of taking 'N-Bomb'

A soldier who violently threw himself at the walls of a police cell after allegedly taking drug N-Bomb has said his drink may have been spiked.

Lance Corporal Joshua Mapson, 31, and Private Barclay Bishop, 22, pleaded not guilty in a court martial on Tuesday to doing an act likely to prejudice service discipline. 

Mapson and Bishop were two of eight soldiers taken into custody over Labour Weekend in Palmerston North after they were found acting strangely in the city centre and were suspected to be under the influence of drugs.

The drug was understood to have been the synthetic hallucinogen "N-Bomb", which triggered a psychotic reaction in the men. 

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Prosecution Colonel Craig Ruane said Bishop was seen spinning around in the police cells and violently throwing himself into walls in the early morning hours of October 25. 

Defence lawyer Major Steve Taylor said Bishop did not know he was consuming N-Bomb.

He said Bishop did not dismiss the possibility he may have had a drink that was spiked. 

Defence lawyer Michael Bott said Mapson also thought his drink may have been spiked. 

"Or he drunk someone else's drink in the small hours of the morning, there was no intention, he did not know what was in the drink." 

Ruane said in his opening statement the group had been attending a barbecue on October 24 as a late birthday celebration for Bishop. 

There was discussion among the group about buying ecstasy and one soldier said he could get them some. 

Ruane said at The Daily nightclub in Palmerston North the soldier met someone outside and purchased ecstasy, then members of the group took what they thought was ecstasy. 

They had an adverse reaction to the drug and Ruane said several members of the group were taken to the police station because of concerns over their behaviour.  

He said the court would hear how Bishop had originally been scared and then had become extremely agitated. 

Dr Stewart Jessamine, the Ministry of Health's acting director of public health, said N-bomb came on the scene in 2010 as a recreational drug. 

It had a similar effect to LSD, but with a greater risk profile, he said. 

The drug came with higher risks, which could be long-lasting depending on how the drug was taken, and it had a longer come-down period.

He said the drug was a colourless crystal that looked like salt or sugar, and had a bitter taste. 

"For most people most doses orally doesn't produce any effect, but for a small number of people it's potentially possible it does."

Currently on the market he said there were 30 different kinds of N-bomb. 

"It is finding its way into other drugs and it has been recorded in products that pretend to be ecstasy."

A witness who was with the group that night, who has name suppression, said they had heard a discussion about organising ecstasy that night. 

They said they later

saw a member of the group swinging off the bars outside The Daily bar. 

"I've never seen him like that.

"He wasn't acting like himself.

"His eyes scared me, he looked like he was going to kill me and you don't look like that when you're drunk."

One of the men who took N-bomb, who has name suppression, said he did not remember taking the drug.

"It's just a blank."

The last thing he remembered was sitting outside the bar The Daily and that he "came to" later in a police cell. 

He said he remembered one of the group bringing up the idea of buying ecstasy, but he did not remember taking any drugs, or seeing anyone else take drugs. 

Three other witnesses were called on Tuesday afternoon who were involved in the nights events, and all said they did not recall taking drugs. 

One witness said he felt the situation was unfair to those soldiers involved. 

"From the beginning I believe we were destined to be...discharged, whether we were found guilty, innocent or in-between. 

"Because, I was never found guilty and I was discharged."

Five soldiers were discharged from the army after the incident and another was dismissed earlier this year after following a court martial. 

The pair are appearing in front of Judge Anne Gaskell and a panel of three military members. The court martial is expected to continue on Wednesday.