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Former Scot’s soldier sentenced to five years prison in India

Billy Irving and Yvonne MacHugh with baby William
Billy Irving and Yvonne MacHugh with baby William

A man from Argyll is amongst six former UK soldiers who have been sentenced to five years in prison in India.

Billy Irving, from Connel, Argyll and his crew were arrested on firearms charges in October 2013 when the anti piracy ship they were on was found to be full of weapons.

The charges had been dropped, but the Indian authorities appealed against the decision and have now won their case.

All 35 sailors and guards on the boat received five-year sentences and have been ordered to pay 3,000 rupees (£30).

The six British men sentenced are:

  • Nick Dunn, from Ashington, Northumberland
  • Billy Irving, from Connel, Argyll
  • Ray Tindall, from Chester
  • Paul Towers, from Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire
  • John Armstrong, from Wigton, Cumbria
  • Nicholas Simpson, from Catterick, North Yorkshire

The men were arrested on board a ship owned by an American company which offered armed protection services to vessels sailing through an area known as “pirates’ alley” between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.

Customs officials and police found 35 guns, including semi-automatic weapons, and almost 6,000 rounds of ammunition on board the ship which did not have permission to be in Indian waters.

A court in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu upheld the claim by the Indian authorities that the vessel was not properly licensed.

The men have consistently denied any wrongdoing and claim they have been abandoned by their American employers.

They also say they have not been paid since November 2013.

Billy Irving, 35, has been held in India since October 2012 when his boat – on anti piracy patrols – was boarded by the Indian coastguard.

During that time he has lost his home at Connel, near Oban, been held in squalid conditions in an Indian prison, become a father and got engaged to his long term partner Yvonne MacHugh, 26.

The former soldier and his crewmates were accused of gun running and thrown into jail in Chennai.

The charges were quashed by an Indian court, releasing them from prison last year. But this decision was appealed by the police, preventing them from leaving the country.

Miss MacHugh visited Mr Irving when he was released from prison and their son, William Archie, was conceived.

She then had to return to Scotland alone and gave birth without her partner.