By

August 19, 2021

-Western Standard

 

If you’re going to slip pot into someone’s cupcake, the live-fire military range might not be the best place to do it.

Canadian Armed Forces Bombardier Chelsea Cogswell faces five years in prison after being found guilty Wednesday by a court-martial trial at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick for spiking cupcakes.

Cogswell was convicted on eight counts of administering a noxious substance and one count of behaving in a disgraceful manner.

The Guardian said her case marks the first time a Canadian soldier has been found guilty of administering cannabis to colleagues without their consent.

Commander Sandra Sukstorf, the judge presiding over the court-martial, called Cogswell’s behaviour “shockingly unacceptable” adding her actions could have resulted in fellow soldiers being killed.

In video testimony, Cogswell told military police she made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and a jelly bean on top for her fellow soldiers, but denied adding any cannabis.

Cogswell, who has served in the Canadian military since 2011, was working in the canteen during the multi-week “Exercise Common Gunner” at Gagetown in July 2018, part of the Royal Canadian Artillery School’s officer training.

Court heard five soldiers at the live-fire exercise tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). A wrapper from one of the cupcakes also indicated the presence of THC.

The cupcakes certainly changed the soldiers’ reactions.

One incorrectly set timing fuses on explosives, another improperly loaded a weapon and a gunner walked in front of a howitzer. A soldier almost crashed his military truck and others say they were overcome by laughter, the Guardian reported.

Court heard Cogswell had access to medical marijuana, which she used as a sleep aid.

Sentencing takes place November 16.

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