Author Topic: Bamber lawyer Simon McKay loses fight to get fellow SAS soldier off gun charge.  (Read 9241 times)

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Offline John

I came across this story just now and thought you all might find it interesting.




Sgt Danny Nightingale with his wife Sally on                   A similar 9mm Glock pistol.
their wedding day and, right, on duty.



An SAS soldier has been jailed for possessing a “war trophy” pistol presented to him by the Iraqi Army for outstanding service.

Sgt Danny Nightingale, a special forces sniper who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sentenced to 18 months in military detention by a court martial last week.

His sentence was described last night as the “betrayal of a war hero”, made worse because it was handed down in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday.

Sgt Nightingale had planned to fight the charge of illegally possessing the 9mm Glock.

But his lawyer said he pleaded guilty after being warned that he could otherwise face a five-year sentence.

The soldier had hoped for leniency given the circumstances. At the court martial, even the prosecution described him as a serviceman of exemplary character, who had served his country for 17 years, 11 in the special forces.

The court was told that he returned to Britain in a hurry after two friends were killed in Iraq, leaving his equipment — including the pistol — to be packed up by colleagues.

It accepted evidence from expert witnesses that he suffered severe memory loss due to a brain injury.

Judge Advocate Alistair McGrigor, presiding over the court martial, could have spared the soldier prison by passing a suspended sentence. Instead he handed down the custodial term.

Sgt Nightingale and his family chose to waive the anonymity usually given to members of the special forces.

His wife, Sally, said her husband’s sentence was a “disgrace”. She called him a “hero who had been betrayed”. She said she and the couple’s two daughters, aged two and five, faced losing their home after his Army pay was stopped.

The soldier’s former commanding officer and politicians have called for the sentence to be overturned.

Lt Col Richard Williams, who won a Military Cross in Afghanistan in 2001 and was Sgt Nightingale’s commanding officer in Iraq, said the sentence “clearly needed to be overturned immediately”.

He said: “His military career has been ruined and his wife and children face being evicted from their home — this is a total betrayal of a man who dedicated his life to the service of his country.”

Patrick Mercer, the Conservative MP for Newark and a former infantry officer, said he planned to take up the case with the Defence Secretary.  Simon McKay, Sgt Nightingale’s lawyer, said: “On Remembrance Sunday, when the nation remembers its war heroes, my client — one of their number — is in a prison cell.

"I consider the sentence to be excessive and the basis of the guilty plea unsafe. It is a gross miscarriage of justice and grounds of appeal are already being prepared.”

In 2007, Sgt Nightingale was serving in Iraq as a member of Task Force Black, a covert counter-terrorist unit that conducted operations under orders to capture and kill members of al-Qaeda.

He also helped train members of a secret counter-terrorist force called the Apostles. At the end of the training he was presented with the Glock, which he planned to donate to his regiment as a war trophy.

But in November 2007, two of Sgt Nightingale’s closest friends, Sgt John

Battersby and Cpl Lee Fitzsimmons, were killed in a helicopter crash. He accompanied both bodies back to Britain and helped arrange the funerals.

In Iraq, his equipment was packed by colleagues, one of whom placed the pistol inside a container that was sent first to the SAS regimental headquarters in Hereford, then to his home where it remained unopened until 2010.

In 2009, Sgt Nightingale, now a member of the SAS selection staff, took part in a 200-mile fund-raising trek in Brazil. He collapsed after 30 miles and fell into a coma for three days.

He recovered but his memory was severely damaged, according to two expert witnesses, including Prof Michael Kopleman of King’s College, London, an authority on memory loss.

In May, 2010, Sgt Nightingale was living in a house with another soldier close to the regiment’s headquarters when he was posted to Afghanistan at short notice.

During the tour, his housemate’s estranged wife claimed her husband had assaulted her and kept a stash of ammunition in the house. West Mercia Police raided the house and found the Glock, still in its container.

Sgt Nightingale’s court martial did not dispute that the pistol had been a gift. It accepted statements from expert witnesses, including Dr Susan Young, a forensic psychologist also from King’s College, London. She said that he probably had no recollection that he had the gun.

The court also accepted that Sgt Nightingale had suffered severe memory loss. But the judge did not believe that he had no recollection of being in possession of the weapon.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9669410/SAS-war-hero-jailed-after-betrayal.html
« Last Edit: November 13, 2012, 04:20:13 PM by John »
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline devils advocate

An interesting case which has just been aired on radio 2.     I must say I have some sympathy with the guy one one hand but what he did was illegal on the other.

He pled guilty because McKay apparently told him he would get 5 years if he fought the charges and lost and now that he has been sentenced to 18 months he is upset??    McKay is going to appeal this sentence but we could have guessed that going by his actions in the Bamber case.


Offline Tim Invictus

SAS soldiers should be exempt from the law forbidding ownership of weapons. He should have got a slap on the wrist and a very small fine.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2016, 02:36:34 PM by John »

Offline John

SAS soldiers should be exempt from the law forbidding ownership of weapons. He should have got a slap on the wrist and a very small fine.

There is a lot more to this story than one first realises.   There are rules in place for weapons given over as awards to our soldiers, there was no need for Sgt Nightingale to have this weapon in his private property.  Basically he has himself to blame.

As a bit of background, this happens quite a lot with soldiers returning from a theatre of war.  All sorts of guns and even hand grenades have been smuggled back illegally with many of them being sold to terrorists and underworld criminals.  Do we really need these weapons on our streets?
« Last Edit: April 30, 2016, 02:36:55 PM by John »
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline John

That said, it is always the wife and kids that suffer in the end just because of one moment of greed or madness.  They have lost their breadwinner, will now lose their home and everything else they hold dear.  What a mess!



Sally Nightingale the wife of court marshalled soldier Danny Nightingale with their daughters
Mara 5 and Alys 2 at home in Crewe.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2012, 02:24:00 PM by John »
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline John

SAS war hero betrayed by the Army, says wife


The wife of SAS soldier Danny Nightingale tells Sean Rayment about the impact her husband's court-martial has had on the family.

Sally Nightingale is a woman who knows the meaning both of loyalty and sacrifice.

As the wife of an SAS soldier, she learned to live with the knowledge that a knock on the door could bring news of her husband’s death.

But she never complained and instead stood by her husband as he took part in secret operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, risking everything in the service of his government and country.

In six years of marriage, the couple has effectively spent three years apart.

Today, as the nation remembers its fallen heroes, she is wondering whether the worry, the pain and the sacrifice have been worth anything, as her husband languishes inside, a military prison, his career and future in tatters.

Read more...
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline ActualMat

When the words Simon Mckay and Loses are in the same sentence, I am not suprised.

Offline Peter

SAS war hero betrayed by the Army, says wife


The wife of SAS soldier Danny Nightingale tells Sean Rayment about the impact her husband's court-martial has had on the family.

Sally Nightingale is a woman who knows the meaning both of loyalty and sacrifice.

As the wife of an SAS soldier, she learned to live with the knowledge that a knock on the door could bring news of her husband’s death.

But she never complained and instead stood by her husband as he took part in secret operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, risking everything in the service of his government and country.

In six years of marriage, the couple has effectively spent three years apart.

Today, as the nation remembers its fallen heroes, she is wondering whether the worry, the pain and the sacrifice have been worth anything, as her husband languishes inside, a military prison, his career and future in tatters.

Read more...


An interesting heading chaps.   How does he reckon the army betrayed him exactly?




Offline John

SAS war hero betrayed by the Army, says wife


The wife of SAS soldier Danny Nightingale tells Sean Rayment about the impact her husband's court-martial has had on the family.

Sally Nightingale is a woman who knows the meaning both of loyalty and sacrifice.

As the wife of an SAS soldier, she learned to live with the knowledge that a knock on the door could bring news of her husband’s death.

But she never complained and instead stood by her husband as he took part in secret operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, risking everything in the service of his government and country.

In six years of marriage, the couple has effectively spent three years apart.

Today, as the nation remembers its fallen heroes, she is wondering whether the worry, the pain and the sacrifice have been worth anything, as her husband languishes inside, a military prison, his career and future in tatters.

Read more...


An interesting heading chaps.   How does he reckon the army betrayed him exactly?


I don't see how they have.  If he was intending to hand over the weapon for display purposes wouldn't you think he would have done it before he left Afghanistan or at least on his arrival in England?   A lot of time seems to have elapsed between his return and the finding of the weapon by the police.

I have seen first hand the damage that these weapons can do when abused.  Such incidents usually involve alcohol and facing someone with a loaded pistol in such circumstances is a no brainer.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2012, 04:17:33 PM by John »
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline Tim Invictus

This man's service in the special forces should far outweigh his silly mistake. As long as there is no suggestion he was going to use the weapon for anything sinister or he was looking to sell it, a prison sentence of any kind is ridiculous! IMO.

Offline Angelo222

This man's service in the special forces should far outweigh his silly mistake. As long as there is no suggestion he was going to use the weapon for anything sinister or he was looking to sell it, a prison sentence of any kind is ridiculous! IMO.

Its a strange case isn't it Tim.  Does anyone know if he was dealt with by a civil court?  I assume it was if McKay was involved.
De troothe has the annoying habit of coming to the surface just when you least expect it!!

Je ne regrette rien!!

Offline John

This man's service in the special forces should far outweigh his silly mistake. As long as there is no suggestion he was going to use the weapon for anything sinister or he was looking to sell it, a prison sentence of any kind is ridiculous! IMO.

I suppose we will never know why they didn't deal with this case in other ways.  It wasn't as if he was involved in any criminality involving the gun.  He has an exemplary record seemingly and his commanding officer even spoke up for him which makes the case and the eventual outcome all the more bizarre.
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline John

I asked some serving soldiers about this today and they weren't sympathetic.   They confirmed much that I have already posted in that many soldiers take a risk and bring back souvenirs from a war theatre.  They reckon he was just unlucky in being caught.  He will get a military sentence as well as a civilian one along with his court martial and they are usually much harsher as the Army don't like this sort of thing.

The fact that he has openly blamed the Army for his own shortcomings will do him no favours.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2012, 09:55:50 PM by John »
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

goldengrahames

  • Guest
As ever, the initial reports on this case were half-cocked. It transpires that he had 300 rounds of live ammo in the box too, including 50 rounds for the Glock. The box was in his house for 3 years, yet he claims he;d never bothered to open it after it was shipped back by his comrades. I don't know about you guys, but it now sounds a bit dodgier to me.

« Last Edit: April 30, 2016, 02:38:31 PM by John »

Offline John

As ever, the initial reports on this case were half-cocked. It transpires that he had 300 rounds of live ammo in the box too, including 50 rounds for the Glock. The box was in his house for 3 years, yet he claims he;d never bothered to open it after it was shipped back by his comrades. I don't know about you guys, but it now sounds a bit dodgier to me.


Simon McKay just been on Sky News talking about the Nightingale case.  He was asked why nightingale pleaded guilty if he was innocent?  Mckay said that he decided to plead guilty in order to spare his elderly father and wife and daughters the possibility of a 5 year sentence.  A funny end and a pregnant pause to the interview when the Sky journalist Sarah-Jane Mee couldn't even remember the name of the case. 

I agree about the ammo GG, sort of blows his case that he shipped the weapon solely to be given to the guardroom as a trophy.  So what was all the other ammo for?  I smell bullshit!

« Last Edit: April 30, 2016, 02:38:58 PM by John »
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.