SAS man Nightingale risks return to prison after second guilty verdict

Court martial convicts sniper of possessing pistol and ammunition but sentencing to be referred to court of appeal

The former SAS sniper Danny Nightingale faces possible imprisonment and discharge from the army after being convicted for a second time of illegally possessing a pistol and ammunition.

Nightingale was freed from military detention and had his original conviction quashed earlier this year following a high-profile campaign but a court martial board on Wednesday took less than five hours to find him guilty of the two charges.

His sentence was adjourned and Nightingale immediately suggested he might appeal against his conviction, comparing his battle with the military authorities to the fight between David and Goliath.

The soldier, who served with distinction in Iraq and Afghanistan, said his family was close to “financial ruin” because of the case but insisted he did not regret contesting the allegations even if he ended up behind bars. “If I didn’t have such a strong family we’d be broken. But I never regret fighting it, not for one second.”

He refused to comment on whether he believed the military authorities had pursued him because they had been embarrassed by the Nightingale campaign or whether he felt he was being made a scapegoat by army chiefs, who are believed to want to rein in the SAS.

Nightingale, 38, said he was still proud of his career in the SAS, which he joined in 2001, adding: “This won’t taint my military memory. The last few years aren’t really part of my military.”

He will spend the next few days at home in Cheshire with his wife, Sally, and their two young daughters as he considers his next move. “We’re going home. It’s been a long 22 months and I don’t know how long it’s going to go on for. We’re going to go home and have a cup of tea,” he said.

Mrs Nightingale added: “Continue to support us because he’s not guilty and he’s not a criminal. He never brought a weapon into the country; he never had a weapon in his possession. We know the truth, the family knows the truth, we know most of the public knows the truth.”

The court martial at Bulford camp in Wiltshire heard that a Glock 9mm pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition were found in Nightingale’s bedroom in a house he shared with a friend and SAS colleague, who can be identified only as Soldier N.

Following the discovery, Nightingale and N were brought back to the UK from Afghanistan, where they were serving. Nightingale told civilian police the pistol had been a present from Iraqis he had worked with in 2007. He said he had carelessly stockpiled the ammunition while he worked as a range instructor for the SAS.

At his first court martial last year Nightingale said that he could not actually remember being given the pistol or collecting the ammunition, explaining that he had suffered memory loss following a serious illness in 2009 during an endurance challenge in the Amazon.

But when it was …read more