Sacked naval officer 'has been through hell'

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It would serve no purpose to retry a former senior naval officer, who had "been through hell" since being dismissed from service after having an affair with a subordinate, a court was told today.

At a Courts-Martial Appeal Court hearing in the High Court at Wellington today the Defence Force said it should be given the opportunity to retry Commodore Kevin Keat as a matter of principle.

He was dismissed last October after being found guilty at a court martial of five of eight charges of breaching orders by not disclosing the affair, not ending the relationship and threatening the woman involved and her daughter.

However, in August, those convictions were quashed.

Keat's lawyer Michael Bott said there was no point in a retrial for his client because it would serve no purpose.

Keat had lost his job and his name had been dragged through the media, he said.

"He's been through hell. Is it worth the expense and time to carry on with this?"

Keat had a dramatic fall from grace and was "unable to hold his head high".

The former officer's colleagues would look at the issues and learn lessons, Mr Bott said.

He said because Keat was no longer working for the Defence Force, it did not have the jurisdiction to bring charges against him.

Defence Force council Kate Feltham said the Defence Force's decision to retry Keat "has not been taken lightly.

"It is a matter of particular concern for the Defence Force.''

The fact that it was a court martial and not a criminal trial raised issues such as service discipline, she said.

A possible penalty to arise from a retrial would be a fine or severe reprimand.

The process was worthwhile because it came back to a "matter of principle", she said.

"The point would be that convictions would be entered again [should he not be acquitted]."

The decision was reserved.