A sailor has been fined £300 and narrowly avoided a jail sentence - for having a cigarette on the deck of a Royal Navy warship. Leading Seaman Lee Harvey lit up on the HMS Defender air-defence Type 45 destroyer because his vape was broken and he was 'stressed' about not being able to afford a birthday present for his wife.
The 38-year-old father-of-three was caught smoking by a senior officer and told to put it out. As a result a court martial considered activating a previous suspended sentence of 21 days imprisonment for being unfit for duty due to alcohol in June last year.
LS Harvey admitted a single charge of contravening standing orders. HMS Defender is the fifth Type 45 or 'Daring-class' destroyer built for the Navy and was launched in 2009. It is based in Portsmouth, Hants.
