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Dear Jimmy, many thanks for all you did for the young Para, Jimmy. he said " It's as though the guy can see inside my head." That's what he said to me after he'd read your combat stress document, (Survival Guide). Once again my sincere thanks. Prison listener Dear Jimmy We hope this letter finds you in good health and spirit and write to say thank you for your article Veterans In Prison. Our son is in prison. He was court martialed and sentenced and dishonourably discharged. After the court martial he was sent to Warminster guard room, then to Colchester military prison, then to Chelmsford and then to where he is now. He served 2 tours of Iraq and we, his parents have been trying to get help for him since he returned from his first tour in 2003. On his return he was so very different to the lad we love and know as our son. We have made so many approaches to the army by telephone, too many to count, but despite our calls and expressing our concerns for him we would be told 'well thats the army way of life', or 'well we will keep an eye on him'. But nothing has ever been done. We feel that the army failed him. He served his 2 tours and returned in one piece, but damaged by traumas from his experiences there. When he needed the army to help him they let him down. He became very drink dependent, so much so that we thought he was an alcoholic. He wouldnt eat much, he would just fill himself up with drink. He would have terrible mood swings, one minute he was high as a kite and laughing away, the next he would be really down. He has been sent to prison because he bought a gun. He found out his fiancee had had an affair with one of his army colleagues who he classed as a friend whilst he was on his 2nd tour of duty in Iraq for 7 months. It was another of his army friends who let him know. He asked her outright and she admitted it. He then began drinking again and it was whilst drunk he said he was going to get this lad and at this point he was offered a gun for a sum of money. He hid the gun in his room in the barracks. He was arrested by the military police, as far as we are aware he co-operated with the police and took them to where the gun was hidden, but it had been moved by friends who are now serving prison terms. We accept that he did wrong but believe there are extenuating circumstances which contributed to his behaviour and actions. We enclose some of the things that we wrote about him on his return from Iraq. There are so many instances that caused us to have concern, but as time passes we have forgotten many of these things. We thank you because we have felt as if we alone are trying to fight this battle to gain some kind of recognition for the trauma, but it doesn't really help as regards getting his sentence reduced. It does give a sense of relief to know that others are in the same position, and that we are not alone. We are trying to make an appeal about the length if sentence as we believe it to be very harsh. Due to the distance we have to travel to see him we find it very draining both psysically and mentally, therefore we are trying to get him moved nearer to home to make visiting a little easier. Our son served 2 tours in Iraq, the first time he volunteered and returned after 5 months, the second tour lasted 7 months. When he returned home we as parents were so glad to have him home safe from the conflict, but he returned very different from the lad we knew as our son. There were many things that were differnet, the most obvious change was very heavy drinking. He would be in the pub day and night, he wouldn't eat, he would get so drunk he was incapable of self control. He often wet the bed at night. If we approached his drinking he would think we were just getting at him and it would cause arguments. One day i tried to stop him going out, he was in a terrible rage and when i finally let him go he stormed off and thumped a car very hard it rocked. Withn 10 minute of him reaching the pub he text to say 'sorry' but he wouldnt come home and talk. We telephoned the base for advice, i was put through to a female officer eventually who was told to call the police. When asked what would they do, i was told they would arrest him and prevent any further trouble at home. He later told us he drinks because he cant sleep at night, he has flash backs to Iraq, he drinks to try andmake himself sleep at night. Whenever he came home and we returned from work, all the doors were locked and all the lights were on, even in broad daylight. He was hard to communicate with, it was rare to get the slightest bit of converstaion from him. Although we were glad to see him, he is our son and we love him so very much, there used to be such a terrible atmosphere in the house, we used to feel uncomfortable in our own home . One night at about 2am he knocked on my bedroom door and wanted to talk, this was very unusual for him, we went downstairs and stayed there until 7am, he was in floods of tears, he told me he couldnt get Iraq out of his head and it was doing him in. He told me that when they were there, they often had to raid buldings and search them where they believed terrorists were. Because he is a big strong lad, he had the heavy machine gun and so had to enter these buildings first and in his words 'was shit scared'. I told him anybody would be in that situation but i got the impression he felt it was a sign of weakness. He said there were other things from Iraq but he wouldn't say what they were, he didnt want to talk about it. Sometimes he would sleep rough. When his mother was in hospital he only visited once and was very loud, the same night he went out and got involved in a fight anf got his jaw broken. He crashed his car through drink driving. He was glassed in a fight before the court martial. Sometimes he would say things just to try and shock us or not speak to us at all. He ran up huge debts. Again we made calls to the barracks but got no help or advice. Several attempts have been made to get him some kind of help. We made so many phone calls to his base in Germany and in Warminster about our concerns and his drinking but were told 'it is the culture of army life' the nearest we got to any response was 'we can keep an eye on him'. We have telephoned the SSAFA and Combat Stress but were told that while he is in the army they can do nothing, we made contact again since he was sentenced and dishonourably discharged but were told 'let us know when he is released'. He needs help now. We as the parents know that he has committed an offence, but we believe that there are underlying circumstances that have affected him and his state of mind. If we saw the changes in our son when he was home for such short periods surely people on the base must have noticed the same changes in him. We feel that if our requests for help had been acted upon then we and our son would not be in the situation we find ourselves in. We feel our lives have been turned upside down and our emotions torn to shreds. It feels as if we are swimming in concrete, not getting anywhere fast. Our son wanted to be a soldier from a very young age and we encouraged him into a career which looked promising. After the court martial the media stated he was a young man doing well in his career, he has an exemplary record from the army. We feel that we handed our son over to the armed Forces and Her Majesty and he has served his country well. We have been given back a young man, who seems lost and has nothing but the love and affection of his family and is in desperate need of help and not INCARCERATION. Dear Tracey thanks for the letter and i am sorry i haven't written for ages but i am trying to get my head round what's been happening. My sentence date was put back again and the judge made it plain that I would be sentenced asap. then my barrister couldn't attend and so I had another barrister stand in for her so I thought brilliant! sold down the river again but i was wrong, he was highly recommended with 20 years experience and he had worked with ex-forces and had a good knowledge of PTSD. He said I was undoubtedly suffering PTSD due to my service career. i knew i was looking at a life sentence or an extremely long custodial sentence, 10-12 years. My barrister spoke up for me, very quiet and passionately about my service career and my PTSD, although it was no excuse for the crime. He showed that I had an exemplary Army record throughout my career. The judge spoke for 20 minutes about how he could give me a discretionary life sentence but he said he did not believe a sentence of this magnitude was warranted on this occasion. he then went on how he could give me a long custodial but then he said he was satisfied with the fact that i had beeen brutally honest and sentenced me to 8 years under the old act, which means 5 years 4 months and 8 months on licence maximum! I couldnt believe it but my barrister said the judge took into account about my PTSD!!!!!! A fantastic result! You must tell other veterans to ensure they get a fair and just trial and that PTSD is taken into account when being sentenced. it's fantastic news! i will write soon, thanks. Dear Tracey Many thanks for sending me the Survival Guide about PTSD. I read it with interest and a growing sense of deja vu.! My world collapsed less than a year of leaving the Armed Forces having served for 22 years. At the time of my arrest my GP raised the subject of PTSD but I brushed this aside and laid myself open to the full weight of the Criminal Justice system. Looking back on my Service career, I have dealt with many traumatic incidents involving casualties, I was a medic. Many of your sections in the Guide got me thinking about my own circumstances and I can now see many parallels in the examples you cite. Notably, depression (undiagnosed at the time) flashbacks, lack of communication between my family etc etc. Having said all this I still feel somewhat afraid, looking for excuses for my offending behaviour perhaps? I think that others in authority may think exactly the same hence I am reluctant to raise the issue. Have you any thoughts on this? |
