Danny Nightingale (British Army soldier)

Last updated

Danny Harold Nightingale (born 1975) is a British soldier from Crewe. [1] He came to public attention in 2012 after he was court-martialled for illegal possession of a pistol and ammunition.

Contents

Background

Nightingale enlisted in the British Army in 1995, and served in the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (later amalgamated into the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment). [2] [3] He served as a sergeant in the Special Air Service from 2001, [4] undertaking tours of duty in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya. He helped develop the "Nightingale Dressing", a large occlusive dressing used in the management of penetrating chest trauma. [5] [6]

Trial and campaign for release

In 2011, Nightingale was arrested when police found a Glock pistol and 338 rounds of ammunition in his house. Nightingale claimed that he could not remember being given the pistol and said that he had suffered memory loss following a serious illness. [7] In November 2012, a court-martial sentenced him to 18 months' detention in the Military Corrective Training Centre. [8] Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Defence, asked Dominic Grieve, Attorney General, "to review whether the public interest test has been applied appropriately". Grieve declined to do so, saying the decision to prosecute and the appropriateness of the sentence were "a matter for the court martial appeal court, in due course." [9] During a debate in the House of Commons several MPs called for Nightingale's release. [8] A petition asking for the same gathered more than 100,000 signatures.

Nightingale and his supporters claimed that his trial had become "political" and that the authorities were pursuing a vendetta against him because he had challenged the military prosecutors.

On 29 November 2012, the Court Martials Appeal Court reduced and suspended the original sentence pending a further hearing. [5] On 13 March 2013, the conviction resulting from Nightingale's guilty plea was quashed by the Court Martials Appeal Court and a retrial was ordered. [10]

Retrial

On 1 July 2013, Nightingale's retrial began at the Bulford military court. [11] With legal costs potentially exceeding £100,000 a fundraising campaign was launched by campaign group Big Brother Watch. [12] At trial, Nightingale said that his previous defence had been false and instead claimed the pistol and ammunition "must have belonged to his colleague and housemate," who was also an SAS soldier. [7] Explaining why he had previously given a false version of events, William Clegg QC, for the defence, said that Nightingale had no memory of receiving the pistol and did not now believe it was his, and that his documented brain injury may have led to him "'confabulating', or piecing together plausible stories from what he hears or sees around him" to explain how it came to be in his bedroom. [13] On 10 July Nightingale was found guilty and released on bail. [14]

On 25 July 2013, he was sentenced to two years' detention, suspended for 12 months. Commodore His Honour Judge Jeffrey Blackett, the Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces, and a Senior Circuit Judge said in his sentencing remarks: "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 a scapegoat or the victim of some wider political agenda is absolute nonsense." [7] The judge also said that the case deserved a sentence of immediate custody, which would have been imposed save for the earlier remarks of the Court of Appeal. [15] [16] Nightingale's explanation of how the pistol and ammunition came to be in his bedroom was, said the judge, a "made up [and] spurious defence which falsely impugned the character of a fellow soldier and caused a number of SAS soldiers to risk their own security in giving evidence." [16]

The judge also directed remarks toward "commentators and MPs" who had criticised the prosecution, stating: "I trust that those who have been so critical of the service prosecuting authority and the court martial process—particularly those who made unfounded and uninformed remarks under the cloak of parliamentary privilege—now realise how inappropriate and wrong their criticisms were." [7]

Nightingale was banned by the SAS from making further comments to the media. His family said they had no regrets over pursuing the retrial and would "seek legal advice before considering an appeal." [16]

In May 2014, Nightingale's application to appeal was rejected by the Court Martial Appeal Court. Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas said there was a "considerable amount" of evidence to support the conviction and that proposed new evidence added "virtually nothing to the evidence before the court martial." [17]

Related Research Articles

In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare cases prosecutorial and/or judge misconduct in the same jurisdiction. Double jeopardy is a common concept in criminal law. In civil law, a similar concept is that of res judicata. Variation in common law countries is the peremptory plea, which may take the specific forms of autrefois acquit or autrefois convict. These doctrines appear to have originated in ancient Roman law, in the broader principle non bis in idem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Stephen Lawrence</span> 1993 killing in London

Stephen Lawrence was a black British teenager from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall Road, Eltham on the evening of 22 April 1993, when he was 18 years old. The case became a cause célèbre: its fallout included changes of attitudes on racism and the police, and to the law and police practice. It also led to the partial revocation of the rule against double jeopardy. Two of the perpetrators were convicted of murder on 3 January 2012.

Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person prevents justice from being served on themselves or on another party. In England and Wales it is a common law offence, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Statutory versions of the offence exist in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. The Scottish equivalent is defeating the ends of justice, although charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice are also raised in Scotland, while the South African counterpart is defeating or obstructing the course of justice. A similar concept, obstruction of justice, exists in United States law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Hurndall</span> British activist

Thomas Hurndall was a British photography student, a volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and an activist against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. On 11 April 2003, he was shot in the head in the Gaza Strip by a (IDF) sniper, Taysir Hayb. Hurndall was left in a coma and died nine months later.

Malcolm Kendall-Smith is a former medical officer in the British Royal Air Force. He was born in Australia, was raised in New Zealand and has dual British-New Zealand citizenship.

Barry Michael George is an English man who was found guilty of the murder of English television presenter Jill Dando and whose conviction was overturned on appeal.

David Harold Eastman is a former public servant from Canberra, Australia. In 1995, he was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. A 2014 judicial inquiry recommended the sentence be quashed and he should be pardoned. On 22 August of the same year, the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory quashed the conviction, released Eastman from prison, and ordered a retrial.

Andrew EdwardCoulson is an English journalist and political strategist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Dizaei</span>

Jamshid Ali Dizaei is a former Commander in London's Metropolitan Police Service, Iranian-born with dual nationality, and formerly one of Britain's more senior Muslim police officers. Dizaei came to prominence as a result of his outspoken views on racial discrimination in the London Metropolitan Police and various allegations of malpractice on his part. He had received advancement after his criticism of the force following his claims of racism. He was a frequent media commentator on a variety of issues, mainly concerned with ethnicity and religion. In April 2008, he was promoted to Commander, responsible for West London.

On 14 October 2004, Pádraig Nally, an Irish farmer living in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland shot dead Irish Traveller John "Frog" Ward, who had been trespassing on his property. In November 2005 Nally was sentenced to six years' imprisonment for manslaughter. His conviction was quashed in October 2006 and, after a retrial in December 2006, he was found not guilty of manslaughter.

Abdullah Baybaşin was a drug dealer in Britain. He had been accused in 2004 and convicted of drug charges in 2006 for trafficking 5 lb (2.3 kg) of heroin, and sentenced to 22 years in prison.

Colm Murphy was an Irish republican who was the first person to be convicted in connection with the Omagh bombing, but whose conviction was overturned on appeal. While awaiting a retrial on criminal charges, Murphy was found liable for the bombing in a civil trial, along with Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Seamus Daly. He was subsequently cleared of criminal charges in February 2010.

The Nancy Kissel murder case was a highly publicised criminal trial held in the High Court of Hong Kong, where American expatriate Nancy Ann Kissel was convicted of the murder of her husband, 40-year-old investment banker Robert Peter Kissel, in their apartment on 2 November 2003. It was arguably the highest profile criminal case involving an expatriate in Hong Kong's history, and was closely covered in the media.

Sir Brian Henry Leveson is a retired English judge who served as the President of the Queen's Bench Division and Head of Criminal Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Robinson (activist)</span> English far-right activist (born 1982)

Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, is an English anti-Islam campaigner, convicted criminal and one of the UK’s most prominent far-right activists. He was a political advisor to former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Gerard Batten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suicide of Danny Chen</span> 2011 suicide of an American soldier

Danny Chen was an American U.S. Army soldier who served during the War in Afghanistan. His suicide resulted in a military investigation and charges against eight US soldiers, ultimately with four being court martialed.

<i>R v Evans and McDonald</i>

R v Evans and McDonald was the prosecution of two footballers, Ched Evans and Clayton McDonald, who were accused of the rape of a woman. On 20 April 2012, Evans was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment. McDonald was acquitted. Several people were later fined after naming the woman on Twitter and other social media websites.

Jeffrey Blackett is a British former judge and Royal Navy officer with the rank of Commodore. He was Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces from 2004 to 2020 and among the cases over which he presided was that of "Marine A". Blackett was criticised by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) for sentencing Sgt Alexander Blackman RM to a life sentence for murder, as he failed to give the board the option to pass a lesser sentence of manslaughter. According to the report, the CCRC, which investigates miscarriages of justice, said Judge Blackett was guilty of a "material irregularity" in the original trial, due to an "apparent failure to recognise the position regarding manslaughter during the trial and to direct the board appropriately". Subsequently the Court Martial Appeal Court rejected any criticism of Blackett. They said: "We could see no basis for any criticism of the conduct of the Court Martial by the Judge Advocate General. He left the issues which had been raised by the prosecution and the defence during the hearing of the Court Martial to the Board in an entirely fair and proper manner." Alexander Blackman's murder conviction was eventually quashed in 2017 after a successful appeal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Helmand Province killing</span> Manslaughter of a wounded Taliban insurgent by Alexander Blackman

The 2011 Helmand Province killing was the manslaughter of a wounded Taliban insurgent by Alexander Blackman, which occurred on 15 September 2011. Three Royal Marines, known during their trial as Marines A, B, and C, were anonymously tried by court martial. On 8 November 2013, Marines B and C were acquitted, but Blackman was initially found guilty of murder of the Afghan insurgent, in contravention of section 42 of the Armed Forces Act 2006. This made him the first British soldier to be convicted of a battlefield murder whilst serving abroad since the Second World War.

References

  1. ↑ "SAS man Danny Nightingale released by Court of Appeal". BBC News . Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  2. ↑ Rayment, Sean (18 November 2012). "Sergeant Danny Nightingale: the making of an SAS hero". The Daily Telegraph . London. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  3. ↑ Morris, Steven (1 July 2013). "Court martial of SAS sniper Danny Nightingale to begin hearing evidence". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "Former SAS soldiers say jailed sniper is victim of 'travesty of justice'". The Guardian . London. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  5. 1 2 Hopkins, Nick (29 November 2012). "Jailed SAS soldier Danny Nightingale wins appeal". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  6. ↑ "Nightingale Dressing". Prometheus Medical. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Morris, Steven (25 July 2013). "Danny Nightingale avoids jail over possession of pistol and ammunition". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  8. 1 2 Hopkins, Nick (29 November 2012). "Danny Nightingale case: court of appeal to rule on jailed SAS soldier". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  9. ↑ "'I can't intervene in SAS sniper case,' attorney general tells defence secretary". The Guardian . London. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  10. ↑ "SAS gun appeal: Danny Nightingale conviction overturned". BBC News . 13 March 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  11. ↑ Withnall, Adam (1 July 2013). "SAS sniper Danny Nightingale retrial to hear evidence of Army failures". The Independent . London. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  12. ↑ "Danny Nightingale legal fund appeal". dannynightingale.org. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  13. ↑ Farmer, Ben (5 July 2013). "Sgt Danny Nightingale "made false confession due to brain injury"". The Daily Telegraph . London. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  14. ↑ "SAS sniper Danny Nightingale guilty of possessing gun". BBC News . 10 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "Danny Nightingale SAS case 'miscarriage of justice'". BBC News . 20 November 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  16. 1 2 3 Coghlan, Tom (25 July 2013). "Ex-SAS sniper Danny Nightingale escapes jail but not wrath of judge". The Times . London. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  17. ↑ Farmer, Ben (20 May 2014). "Danny Nightingale loses new appeal bid". The Daily Telegraph . London. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.