Two Bermuda Regiment officers lashed out at soldiers during a trip to Jamaica, a private told yesterday.

He also alleged the Regiment flouted a soldier?s rights by making him undergo a drug test.

And once the soldier failed he was locked up in Red Fence Detention Centre ? a notorious prison housing ?killers and rapists?.

Yesterday Regiment spokesman Major Wayne Smith admitted a Lance Corporal had been demoted during the trip.

?He lost his stripe as a result of a number of charges of indiscipline, one of which was an altercation with another officer.?

Major Smith also confirmed that a man who failed a drug test spent some time at Red Fence.

The private ? who did not wish to be named ? made his allegations to after Lt. Col. Edward Lamb and Premier Alex Scott held a press conference and spoke of the good that came out of the Regiment?s annual trip to Jamaica.

He said a Lance Corporal lost his stripe after striking a private and starting a fight.

The private also claimed a Sergeant Major hit and pushed a private who refused to drink from the a ?dirty pipe by the road? ? something Major Smith said he was unaware of.

On the reported drug test failure, the private said it was wrong for the soldier to be sent to Red Fence.

Failing a drug test was not against the law anywhere in the world and the tests were administered without the individual?s permission, he said.

?He wasn?t caught possessing anything. They threw him in jail for failing a test. It?s wrong.?

The Red Fence Detention Centre, in Kingston, is a military prison. ?They keep rapists and killers there,? the private said.

Major Smith, who acts as media relations for the Bermuda Regiment, confirmed that a man who failed a drug test did spend some time at Red Fence.

He also confirmed that another man caught with marijuana was sent to the detention centre as well. He said both men were guarded by the Bermuda Regimental Police as well as members of the Jamaican Armed Forces.

?We warned them repeatedly that we would be testing them,? he said. ?We warned them before we left, at the airport, everyday at the camp. Anyone who got caught was stupid.

?The test used in Jamaica was a two day test meaning it highlights and identifies drugs that were used 48 hours prior to the test. The test was done seven days into the tour so we can safely conclude that the officer who tested positive for a drug used it during military duty.?

Major Smith said military law allows them to test for drugs and penalise people for drug use.

?As is well known throughout the Bermuda Regiment Standing Order number 58 addresses drug use in the regiment and or on military duty. The regiment has a zero tolerance policy with drugs.

?It is an offence for any soldier to handle, possess or use drugs while the soldier is on military duty. Standing Order 58 states that the Commanding Officer can order a random drug test on any soldier at any time he chooses.?