Military top brass back The Sun’s compaign to free six innocent British war heroes left to rot in prison
Six of our boys are rotting in an Indian prison after being jailed for a crime they didn't commit
FORMER top brass yesterday backed our campaign to free six British war heroes rotting in an Indian jail for a crime they did not commit.
The innocent ex-soldiers got five years after officials mistook their anti-piracy ship for a gun-running vessel.
The six — Dunn, 30, of Ashington, Northumberland; John Armstrong, 28, of Wigton, Cumbria; Ray Tindall, 41, of Chester; Nicholas Simpson, 45, of Catterick, North Yorks; Paul Towers, 52, of Pocklington, East Yorks, and Billy Irving, 35, of Oban — are in Puzhal Central Prison, Chennai.
Yvonne MacHugh, 27, Billy’s fiancee, fell pregnant with first child William while visiting him when he was on bail.
She said: “How can our government sit back and allow innocent men to suffer?”
The Foreign Office said: “Our ministers have raised this at the highest levels in the Indian government and will continue to do so.”
DELHI SNUBBED CAM
INDIA’S leader rebuffed David Cameron’s bid to free the six.
Premier Narendra Modi’s snub came after our ex-PM petitioned him in a face-to-face meeting in London nine months ago.
Mr Cameron then followed up with two letters to Mr Modi, one at the end of last year and again in June this year.
But despite his repeated pleas, the six were jailed in January and remain behind bars for the false charge of gun running to terrorists.
Last night, PM Theresa May promised to raise the men’s plight again with Delhi.
Pressed by the Sun on if she will do all she can to free them, Mrs May said at a UN summit in New York last night: “This has been a case which has been running for a while.
“The Government has over time and since I became Prime Minister has consistently raised it with the Indian government, and we will continue to do so.”
But No10 still refused to openly criticise India for holding the men yesterday.
The PM’s official spokesman insisted: “We would not pass comment on India’s judicial system”.