A military court has sentenced Acting Corporal Jared Joseph Deal to a reprimand and demotion to sapper after he was convicted of threatening to kill and using insulting language toward a superior officer.
The court martial at Linton Military Camp near Palmerston North on 26 June convicted Deal of making the threat and using insulting words to a superior but cleared him of a separate charge of using violence against a superior.
The confrontation took place late on 6 December 2024 at Waiouru Military Camp after a cocktail party. The dispute stemmed from an alleged kiss earlier that year between Deal's partner and the captain, with conflicting accounts of whether the advance was unwanted.
Judge Gerard Winter told the court that during the confrontation, Deal "lost discipline and became angry, and yelled at [the captain], 'I will f...... kill you, c...'" Winter said Deal used low-level gutter insults during the confrontation and showed no remorse.
"You lost discipline. You fell into anger. You threatened a superior officer in a deliberate way. To be very clear, that is totally unacceptable," Winter said.
The captain told the court in a victim impact statement that "the threat to kill has had a profound effect on my sense of personal safety" and left him "feeling less secure, more vigilant, and more conscious of potential risks to me and those close to me".
Deal, 31, had served 12 years in the military and played rugby for the Defence Force at three World Cups. He led a flood-recovery response team in Hicks Bay earlier in 2026.
Defence lawyer Deborah Davies said Deal acknowledged the situation could have been avoided if he had kept walking when he saw the officer. Deal sought counselling for anger management and assessment for alcohol management after the prosecution began.
Winter lifted interim name suppression for Deal. The judge said the court disregarded a 2022 assault conviction from a military tribunal relating to an incident in Niue.