Call for help to free six held in India

The fiancée of a British ex-soldier jailed in India said she thinks about marrying him “every single day” as she took her justice campaign to Number 10.

Loved ones of six ex-soldiers in a “hell hole” prison in Chennai handed in a petition demanding the Government do more to secure their release, marking four years since they were first arrested.

The six, who a British lawyer says are victims of a miscarriage of justice, have been held for 1,461 days in India. They were first jailed on weapons charges while working as security guards on ships to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean.

Yvonne Machugh, from Paisley, the fiancée of Billy Irving, 37, of Oban, a former member of 1 Para, was accompanied in Downing Street by their two-year-old son William, whom he is yet to spend a day at home with.

Ms Machugh said the Government’s efforts “aren’t good enough”, adding: “I want them to openly say ‘We know the men are innocent, release them now’”.