AN INDIAN court hearing is expected to rule today (Thursday October 6) on whether anti-piracy seaman Billy Irving, from Connel, and five fellow British ex-soldiers will be released on bail from Puzhal Prison in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to appeal their convictions for alleged firearms offences.
In 2013 the MV Seaman Guard Ohio’s 35-strong crew – who were tasked with protecting commercial ships from Somali pirates off the African coast – were arrested for straying into Indian waters with unlicensed weapons.
Last January a judge jailed them all to five years, despite their pleas of innocence.