Falklands handgun veteran released from jail early after campaign

A former SAS paratrooper has been released from jail early after a campaign to have his sentence suspended.

Albert Patterson, 65, was jailed for 15 months in April for illegally possessing a handgun - but was released after four months.

He is reported to have kept the weapon - taken from an Argentinian officer - to remind him of fallen comrades following the 1982 Falklands War.

Patterson, who is understood to have spent several years living in Thailand after leaving the military, was arrested in January 2015 after the items were found at his former home in Hereford.

A petition organised by The Sun calling on the Attorney General to suspend the former soldier's jail sentence received more than 160,000 signatures.

Patterson said the petition "made the difference" when he was released from HM Ranby in Nottinghamshire earlier this month.

He told the Sun: "It's been incredible. If it wasn't for them I would have just been another fish in the pond inside prison."

Patterson's daughter Cheri, 25, who met her father outside prison, told the paper: "It's amazing to have Dad out. He looks so well.

"It has been tough for us - Dad should never have gone to prison, but it is over now."

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