Pipers greet Chennai six soldier freed from Indian jail

The six ex-servicemen, three from Yorkshire, were released from the notorious Puzhal Prison earlier this week.

Paul Towers, 54, a former member of the Parachute Regiment from Pocklington; former Army sniper Ray Tindall, 42, originally from Hull; and Nicholas Simpson, 47, from Catterick, were among 35 crew arrested on the anti-piracy vessel MV Seaman Guard Ohio in October 2013.

They were charged with carrying unlicensed firearms and ammunition. The firearms charges were quashed the following year, but an appeal followed from the Indian security force known as Q branch, and in 2016 the six were sentenced to five years in jail.

Billy Irving, the first to return, was greeted by family and two bagpipers as he touched down at Glasgow Airport yesterday for a pre-Christmas reunion.

He was hugged in the airport arrivals hall by family members who had made signs reading “Welcome home Billy”.

Mr Irving, from Argyll and Bute, stopped briefly to speak to the media, and said: “I’d just like to give a massive thank you to everyone who supported all of the Chennai Six, all of the 35 men, throughout.

“I want to thank everyone, they’ve been so kind. Thank you for your support, thank you so much. It feels excellent to be home.”

The 37-year-old had cut his hair and beard since the most recent pictures of him in India were taken last week.

His partner, Yvonne MacHugh, had started a petition for the men’s release, which attracted the support of tens of thousands of people.

The document said the men had been “wrongly arrested and imprisoned by Indian authorities while working to protect ships from pirate attacks”.

She visited Mr Irving in India and the couple have son together, whom he not yet had the chance to get to know properly.

Ms MacHugh said her partner had formerly served in the Parachute Regiment and had been working to make money for his family after leaving the Army.

The other five men are expected to arrive in the UK today.

Their passage home is being paid for by the Mission to Seafarers. Ben Bailey, its director of advocacy, said: “It has been a traumatic experience – whilst they are all ex-military and they will have had a degree of trauma training, nothing prepares you for the reality.”

Mr Bailey said a team of counsellors and support staff was available, if they needed it.

The Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, said earlier: “It is wonderful news that the men are returning to the UK.

“The Foreign Office has worked unstintingly on this case, lobbying on the men’s behalf, visiting them in prison, updating their families and maintaining close contact with their legal team.

“I pay tribute to those who have campaigned for the men, who will be delighted to see them return home after being separated for so long.”

The six men were held along with three Ukrainians, 14 Estonians and 12 Indians when customs officials and police found weapons and ammunition on board their US-owned ship, which Indian authorities said had not been properly declared.

They were arrested initially for taking weapons into India’s waters, but the charges were quashed when the men showed their UK paperwork and argued they were carrying them for anti-piracy purposes.