SAS Guy released completely unhorsey

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Quantock-cob

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Not sure I agree that he was really innocent of all charges - he knew what he was doing was illegal. If his present had been a bag of drugs, that he then brought home to the UK, would that have been OK? SAS hero or not, the laws in the UK should stand for everyone.
 
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Mike007

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LIZ66 said:
Not sure I agree that he was really innocent of all charges - he knew what he was doing was illegal. If his present had been a bag of drugs, that he then brought home to the UK, would that have been OK? SAS hero or not, the laws in the UK should stand for everyone.
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Totaly agree, the accident that he claims caused him to forget about the gun was two years later. This is a profesional soldier from an elite regiment and he casualy forgets about a gun. I dont believe a word of it. And what about the other ammunition for diferent weapons ,that was found? I am glad they showed clemency ,for all he has done for his country. But I believe he is guilty as hell.
 
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indie999

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Mike007 said:
Totaly agree, the accident that he claims caused him to forget about the gun was two years later. This is a profesional soldier from an elite regiment and he casualy forgets about a gun. I dont believe a word of it. And what about the other ammunition for diferent weapons ,that was found? I am glad they showed clemency ,for all he has done for his country. But I believe he is guilty as hell.
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I think the problem is the crime and the fine(or sentence in this case). Any professional soldier knows this is a NO NO. But non custodial would have sufficed. There are firearms/dangerous weapon holders criminals in gangland on our streets today that dont get custodial sentences.

And what is a shame now is the public now know who he is and this does make him a target. Thats where in my opinion he and his family have been let down and the sad thing is this is someone that has lost colleagues in service, seen horrific scenes in his SAS job and put his life on the line for me do not deserve this treatment. No one was harmed, except him and his family. Slap on wrist common sense should prevail. And luckily it did. But his identity is now compromised and I bet he would not have wanted any of this publicity. They are usually a closed shop. Our terrorists get better treatment.
 
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Mike007

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What you possibly dont understand is that this sort of thing is very much an MPO (Most prevalent offence). The Military are trying hard to stop soldiers returning with"souvenirs". They will stamp down hard on anyone caught,they have to. This case is just the tip of an iceberg. This is not an isolated incident, I can categoricaly say this. It is almost impossible to stop servicemen returning with "stuff"if they want to. The trick is to make them not want to. Then we wont have a legacy of illegal firearms which cannot be disposed of legitamately . I think the incident of fox shooting with an AK 47 with armour piercing rounds was possipbly low on the scale of possible risks from these illegal weapons.:eek::eek:Dont ask!
 
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I don't think anyone is really saying he is completely innocent. I think the story was that he had left in a hurry to accompany the bodies of his two dead friends back to UK and his things had been packed up by other colleagues. It did say in the report that the gun was still packed in a box so it is feasible that he had forgotten it was there, he also suffers from PTSD. I don't think he should have got away scot free but feel the prison sentence was over the top in the circumstances, this is a guy that has put his life on the line, every day, for his country.
People who have never worked a day get off with a lot less than he got for possession of an illegal weapon.
 
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crellow4

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The weapon was found on top of his wardrobe, almost 400 live rounds under his bed! Nearly 3 years elapsed between receiving the weapon and him collapsing during a charity run. This man had almost 4 years to declare the weapon and the ammunition.......and didn't. I know what sentence you and I would receive if found with a gun and live bullets.
 
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indie999

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crellow4 said:
The weapon was found on top of his wardrobe, almost 400 live rounds under his bed! Nearly 3 years elapsed between receiving the weapon and him collapsing during a charity run. This man had almost 4 years to declare the weapon and the ammunition.......and didn't. I know what sentence you and I would receive if found with a gun and live bullets.
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Gun crime on our streets particularly London is a daily event. But the penalty is nothing like this. He should have been punished and should have known better but the custodial bit is what is sad. I still think none of us who sit comfortably in our own home imagine the horrors these service folk see, weaponary is their daily tool. Post traumatic will be is with them forever. And that is from experience. Killing after drink drive gets less than this. It was too harsh, naughty boy non custodial and end of.
Anyway I am so pleased he is out and still a hero in my eyes and eternally grateful he put himself out there for me.
 
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redheadkelj

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I know this man's cousin and I can tell you that the press have twisted quite a lot of what actually happened and the full story. I'm sure if a lot of you knew the full story, you would realise why he was being used as a scape goat. I'm not going to go into it all on here but please remember that not everything you read in the press it true and that things get changed to make it a better story. That being said, without the coverage in the news, he would still be in there so I suppose everyone concerned should be grateful to them...!
 
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indie999 said:
And what is a shame now is the public now know who he is and this does make him a target. Thats where in my opinion he and his family have been let down and the sad thing is this is someone that has lost colleagues in service, seen horrific scenes in his SAS job and put his life on the line for me do not deserve this treatment. No one was harmed, except him and his family. Slap on wrist common sense should prevail. And luckily it did. But his identity is now compromised and I bet he would not have wanted any of this publicity. They are usually a closed shop. Our terrorists get better treatment.
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I couldn't agree more. I hope he (and his family) can get on with his life UN-compromised; this was a shoddy way to treat someone who does the dirty work for this country and the higher-ups should have known what a can of worms they will have opened by the way they went about it; shame on them.
 
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