A veteran soldier of a previous war/conflict (now residing inside the prison system) had a visit from a young soldier recently – the young soldier had been trained as a sniper and had killed 19 Taliban on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan. The British Army are now using many snipers these days in that war in Afghanistan – but unfortunately it’s a very cold and personal way of killing another human being and also very high risk of suffering severe combat related PTSD.
What’s more killing those 19 Taliban is accepted as if it doesn’t mean anything – other than high praise and admiration from the young soldiers superiors or maybe an award of gallantry from the authorities. However if that same soldiers emotional mechanisms failed and he suddenly started killing people on his return home – killing only half that number of people would make him the most notorious serial killer in this country since Jack the Ripper. He would be condemned by his superiors – vilified by the authorities and also locked away in prison or a criminal mental hospital for the rest of his life (with the country’s top psychiatrists trying to figure out what makes him tick) and that is what illustrates the huge difference and the fine defining line of unknowingly suffering from this mental disorder – a hero or public enemy number one!
So what are the government going to do with these young soldiers and their mates when they have done their duty in the war in Afghanistan and return home unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD, bringing home the horrors – madness and the nightmares that are locked inside their minds? Are the Government going to produce a magical key to unlock this problem and explain ‘why’ these veterans cannot hold down a job and ‘why’ they will become alienated from their family and friends – or the many other reasons ‘why’ they cant fit back into a normal society at peace?
In all probability or until Veterans In Prison (VIP) along with professionals working with the prison service, the National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO) discovered this shameful act of treachery – hiding troops/veterans in the prison population. The Governments bottom line was to carry on sweeping these Afghan veterans (same as the many thousands of other veterans from previous wars/conflicts) under the larger and larger carpet of the prison system by building more prisons? In that the lack of sensitivity and denial by the Government regarding the ‘8,500 record numbers’ of troops/veterans already in the prison population is unbelievable and unacceptable especially when combat related PTSD is often marked with violence as well as self deceiving and self punishing drug and alcohol abuse – in short classic behavioural problems which often run foul of the law!
VIP cannot believe that this is happening, we cant believe that the Criminal Justice system is still blindly ignoring and mischaracterising the actions of thousands of troops/veterans who have served in wars/conflicts and are continuing to ‘paint all troops/veterans with the sane brush’ (as criminals) who appear before the Courts – not even bothering to check if the troops/veterans behavioural problems are the result of their military experiences.
Example: ‘Army hero jailed for drugs role’, The Northern Echo newspaper headline (24/09/08).
The article was about a former paratrooper who was described in Court as a war hero decorated for service in Kosovo and Afghanistan – the ex-Para had served between 1997 and 2005 (and was also asked by the Army to return after his discharge – that is how highly he was thought of by his Regiment). However he was jailed for 3 years, a year after leaving the Army for possession of a Class A drug and yesterday was jailed again for another 4 years after admitting possession of another Class A drug.
In mitigation the ex-soldiers solicitor said: “After he left the Parachute Regiment he was unable to find work, became embroiled in drugs and ended up owing drug dealers money. The debts he had incurred did not go away – drug dealers do not work like that and he was a runner doing it to pay off his debt”,
The judge described the veteran’s references from the Army ‘as documents to be proud of and said he hoped he could fulfil his potential after release’. Regrettably the words of mitigation and fine words of praise from the Judge are in reality nothing but pure ‘patronising claptrap’ coming from the mouths of these so called Justice administrators!
Ironic isn’t it after all the recent hullabaloo by the media in the newspapers, television and the radio regarding the record numbers of troops/veterans in the prison population (plus the direct connection between their mental health and their service in wars/conflicts) that not one of the ex-soldiers defence team or the Judge couldn’t be bothered to check whether or not he was (unknowingly) suffering from combat related PTSD! Surely the ex-soldiers solicitors or even the Judge should have had some sort of clue or the gumption to ask for a psychiatric report to check whether or not the ex-Para was (unknowingly) suffering from a mental illness such as combat related PTSD – especially more so because of his service in wars/conflicts and now being dependent on drugs to cope with life in Civvy Street!
If the veteran was unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD? Then disastrously the connection of combat related PTSD was missed at the very beginning of both his trials and was therefore not considered in terms of sentencing or of providing treatment and rehabilitation on his or the publics behalf – along with the fact that there are no full scale treatment programmes for troops/veterans knowingly or unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD in the prison system and consequently leaving these vulnerable troops/veterans still suffering combat related PTSD on their release is scandalous!
Unfortunately and falling in line with the civilian criminal Justice system – the military criminal justice system also has the same (ignorance is bliss) policy regarding checking if troops are suffering combat related PTSD which another very recent newspaper article shows: The Sun newspaper (04/10/08) ‘Army 10 in drugs swoop’ Heroes face boot.
This article was about 10 soldiers from the 1st Battalion the Royal Welsh – called into action in Iraq and Afghanistan before returning back home in August 2008. A random drugs swoop by the military police found that 9 of the group – Corporals and below had taken cocaine and the 10th had taken cannabis. A MoD spokesman said: “Drug misuse is incompatible with life in the Armed Forces and will not be tolerated”.
The 10 soldiers now face being kicked out of the Army immediately – however has anyone checked to see if any of these soldiers are suffering combat related PTSD? In fact has anyone ever bothered to check any of the many hundreds of soldiers previously kicked out the Army for drug abuse and symptoms if combat related PTSD in that it is no use the military bring pious and condemning drug abuse when these soldiers are self medicating because they are unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD because of their Service to their country – that is adding insult to injury and conveniently getting rid of the MoD’s responsibilities of treating these soldiers!
This negligent attitude of the Justice system of not bothering to check whether troops/veterans are (unknowingly) suffering combat related PTSD runs deep and has been going on for many years – a prime example is of the 307 British soldiers ‘shot at dawn’ during the First World War. The point at issue is that its now known that a number of the soldiers executed were also suffering from shell shock (what we now know as combat related PTSD) and no account was taken of clear mitigating circumstances of these troops suffering this disorder – in 2007 the Government had to rectify this injustice (after a long campaign by relatives of the shot veterans) and granted them pardons!
However and in spite of this miscarriage of justice all those many years ago – nothing had been learned and history is repeating itself because the same thing is happening again in this day and age. The Courts are still ignoring (by not having troops/veterans checked for combat related PTSD at the time of their trials) medical evidence which could be crucial in proving that the vast majority of troops/veterans appearing before the courts are suffering from this mental disorder.
This is not justice it’s a shameful ‘injustice’ and ignoring this problem doesn’t make it go away – the problem becomes worse. The ripple effect of untreated combat related PTSD is phenomenal – making everyone back home who comes into contact with a veteran (unknowingly) suffering from this disorder a potential victim. Moreover long term combat related PTSD can be prevented so why are the authorities getting it wrong – is it because they have never suffered from this disorder and are so narrow minded and ignorant of combat related PTSD that they plainly do not know what they are doing? Obviously it must be – otherwise it means they are knowingly and deliberately selling their own troops/veterans (their families) and innocent victims down the river and therefore it should be themselves (the authorities) in front of the Courts!
Nevertheless, what does it mean to be a veteran, to serve your country honourably in wars/conflicts and end up inside the prison population (unknowingly) suffering combat related PTSD – what does it mean? Apparently it means nothing to this Government other than to say anything or to sacrifice anyone just to keep themselves in a job – that’s all it means¬
Footnote: this is the 21st Century and in the context of what we now know about combat related PTSD how can the Crown Prosecution Service and the Military Courts have the gall to continue prosecuting troops/veterans without taking this mental disorder into account at the time of their trials – because knowingly not giving them a fair trial is abusing troops/veterans and the publics trust and confidence in the entire British Justice System!
‘Empty words’
The saga of the very high numbers of troops/veterans in the prison population unfolds – and veterans Minister Mr Derek Twigg MP continues his evasive and misleading plan to hoodwink the Nation into believing that proper care and treatment for troops/veterans (unknowingly) suffering from combat related PTSD in the prison system is under control!
On Monday 8th September whilst being interviewed on BBC TV Breakfast Programme the Veterans Minister was asked a question regarding the National association of Probation Officers (NAPO) statement of 10% of the prison population being ex-servicemen? Mr Twigg stated ‘that this was in hand and a Dr Ian Palmer was dealing with this situation and he would be prepared to visit anyone in prison in relation to PTSD who wrote to him!
Initially Mr Twiggs words sounded fantastic news – at long last the MoD were going to do something positive about these high numbers of troops/veterans in the prison population. This could mean justice for the thousands of veterans who have never had a fair trial because of (unknowingly) suffering combat related PTSD.
However when you realise that Dr Palmer is only one man and apart from having his own clinic to run also with helping the 6 community based mental health pilot schemes – the MoD’s Medical Assessment Programme (MAP), the question Veterans In Prison asks: “how much work can this man take on?”
Mr Twigg must have realised that if Dr Palmer worked 365 days a year (7 days a week) to diagnose and write out a medical report for each individual veteran in the prison population, it would take at least 2 days? Therefore to deal with NAPO’s figures (8,500) it would take Dr Palmer a minimum of ’46 years’ to even make a dent in this problem! In the mean time the fact that Afghanistan is ongoing and booked for the next 30 years of war means a great many more troops/veterans are going to need help or also end up in the prison population – what is Mr Twigg going to do with this lot (hide them somewhere else)? Surely someone should have told Mr Twigg that it’s no use having a strategy – if the strategy is not helping the people it’s supposed to be helping?
Scandalously Mr Twigg is purposely playing the ‘ignorance is bliss’ card on this subject – with his words of: “Anyone who writes to Dr Palmer in relation to PTSD he will visit”. The Veterans Ministers words rely solely on troops/veterans in the prison population knowing that they are suffering from this disorder – and he knows perfectly well that the vast majority of troops/veterans suffering combat related PTSD ‘do not know or realise’ that they are suffering from this mental disorder! Conveniently and shamefully Mr Twigg is expecting no-one or hoping for the least possible numbers of veterans in prison to write to Dr Palmer – letting him wriggle out of his responsibilities of checking that each and every veteran is not suffering combat related PTSD (which should be their right after serving their country)!
Footnote: if politicians wish to wear the mantle of Veterans Minister then they should wear it with pride and likewise treat all troops/veterans who have served in wars/conflicts with the honour and respect they fully deserve – not with empty words of spin and deceit to scrimshank their responsibility.
