Disgrace as Danny faces jail yet again

Soldier Danny Nightingale served with the SAS for almost two decades, risking his life in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now his career is in tatters, his life is in ruins and he faces imprisonment.

His ordeal began when a weapon and ammunition were discovered in rented accommodation here in the UK, which he shared with other SAS soldiers while away from home.

Danny had brought the gun back from Iraq. It was a gift from a member of the Iraqi armed forces he had helped while on duty there.

Of course he was foolish to accept the weapon and stupid to have kept hold of it but, when he was initially arrested last year, everyone thought he would get away with an almighty telling off and a severe rap across the knuckles.

Following legal advice he pleaded guilty to the charges, but Danny and his family were shocked when he was handed a jail sentence.

His loyal and determined wife Sally immediately launched a campaign to get her husband out of prison.

The nation was shocked that a hero could be treated so badly for such a relatively minor offence while hate preachers were free to voice their extremist views with little fear of any legal repercussions.

Sally appeared on my morning TV show to plead for her husband’s release, and the reaction from viewers was overwhelming.

Danny was eventually set free and his conviction quashed, but then he had to face the ordeal of a court martial, and last week he was found guilty and is now awaiting sentencing.

Once again the family faces the terrifying prospect of seeing Danny locked up.

I’m not sure if Sally rattled the cages of the military hierarchy with her high-profile campaign, and we all know the SAS loathes any sort of publicity, but it does look like Danny is being persecuted.

And it becomes even more unfair when you realise that he had a brain disorder that affects his memory.

Danny became extremely ill in 2009 after collapsing during a tough charity marathon in South America.

He is thought to suffer from “confabulation”, a condition which unconsciously creates false memory, brought on by amnesia.

Danny is a proud man who has been very uncomfortable in the spotlight and is now facing prison and financial ruin.

Massive legal bills mean he will almost certainly have to sell the family home and will find it very tough to get another job.

I honestly think all of this could have been settled far more sensibly without causing such stress and upset to Danny, Sally, their two small daughters and their family and friends.

He should never have been put on trial in the first place, and the whole fiasco has been handled incredibly badly.

If he is sent to jail again it would be a disgrace.

It was hard to watch the laying to rest of Lee Rigby, the soldier brutally murdered on a London street.

His distraught widow was utterly devastated and even stoic fellow servicemen shed a tear.

The sight of his tiny two-year-old son Jack wearing a T shirt with “My daddy, my hero” emblazoned on the back was unbearably sad.

The family have found some comfort in all of the messages of support they have received from the public, and described his death as “uniting the country”.

Sadly, on the day Lee was laid to rest there was an attack on a mosque, which is inexcusable and disgraceful.

We must not let a tiny minority of morons inflame more hatred. The best way to honour Lee Rigby’s memory is for all of us to join together to strive for peace.