Danny Nightingale Given Suspended Sentence

A former SAS sniper has been handed a suspended sentence after being convicted for a second time of illegally possessing a gun and ammunition.

Danny Nightingale, 38, from Crewe in Cheshire, was given two years military detention, suspended for 12 months.

He was originally jailed for 18 months last year but had his sentence cut and then quashed by the Court of Appeal after an outcry over his treatment.

At the latest sentencing, Judge advocate Jeff Blackett said Nightingale would be going to prison if it was not for the Appeal judges' previous decisions.

"In our opinion, the seriousness of this case does merit an immediate custodial sentence but we feel constrained by the decision of their Lordships," he said.

The senior NCO was found guilty at a retrial of having a 9mm Glock pistol and 338 rounds of ammunition in the bedroom of his shared army house in Hereford.

The 9mm Glock pistol found in Nightingale's wardrobe

The gun and bullets, said to have been brought back from Iraq, were recovered from the rented house by civilian police in September 2011.

The pistol was found in the father-of-two's wardrobe and the ammunition was under his bed in a plastic box.

Nightingale had pleaded not guilty, saying he had no knowledge of them being in his bedroom and claimed someone else had put them there.

The court heard he received a head injury during an endurance marathon in 2009 that affected his memory and caused confusion.

Mr Blackett said the soldier's account about how the gun came to be in his room "lacked credibility".

More than 300 round of ammunition were discovered under the bed

However, he said there were "exceptional circumstances" that allowed the court to suspend the sentence "because of your exceptional character".

The judge also said that "criticism of the prosecution and the army is unmerited and totally without foundation".

He told Nightingale: "We understand how difficult these proceedings have been for you and your family.

"However, you have brought much of that anguish upon yourself and your public assertions that you are scapegoat or the victim of some wider political agenda is absolute nonsense," he said.

"You are simply someone against whom there was a strong prima facie case of serious wrongdoing and, given the dangers to society caused by illegal firearms and their misuse, it was in the public interest to prosecute you.

"You have now had a fair trial before a civilian judge and an independent and impartial board.

"All of the issues you wished to raise and all the submissions you wished to make have been fully considered and verdicts properly given.

"It would have made no difference had you been tried before a civilian jury. The evidence against you was overwhelming and I have no doubt the verdicts would have been the same."

Nightingale said he was suffering memory loss after a head injury

The hearing was told that Nightingale and his family, who were all present, have spent around £120,000 trying to clear his name.

Outside court, his wife Sally said they would have to sit down and discuss their next steps and would be taking advice about a further appeal.

"We are obviously very disappointed with the sentence but pleased Danny will be coming home with us tonight," she said.

She said she had been upset by the judge's comments, insisting that the family had been nothing but "honest and open" and had never misled anyone.

"Nobody wants to go through what we've been through. I could never have imagined myself in this position. But we've done it for the right reasons and we have been true to ourselves so I have no regrets," she added.

The soldier, who served in the former Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan in an 18-year career, has received a medical discharge which will start next February.

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