The Sandbag Times Issue No:14

Youngest Afghan Soldier killed
while on leave court hears
SAS Hero Jailed for possessing firearm from Falklands
An SAS hero was yesterday jailed
for the illegal possession of a
souvenir weapon captured in the
Falklands War.
Albert Patterson said he kept the
9mm pistol, taken from an
Argentinean officer, to remind
him of the 22 friends who died in
the conflict.
He served for 22 years, in the
Parachute Regiment and then in
the SAS.
Sentencing him to 15 months in
prison for the possession of the
The youngest British soldier to serve
in Afghanistan was killed on leave in
his home town by vodka-swigging
thugs who shook hands after leaving
him to die in the street, a court has
heard.
Serviceman Dave Curnow, 20, died
during an alcohol-fuelled attack that
was totally without provocation, a
jury was told.
Mr Curnow was posted to Helmand
province in March 2013 just days
after turning 18 and survived a sixmonth
tour that included several fire
fights with the Taliban.
The victim, who served in the 4th
war trophy, Judge Christopher
Plunkett said that he had been
privileged to see Patterson's
service record.
But he said parliamentary
legislation left him with little
choice over the sentence.
Patterson had admitted
possessing a 9mm self-loading
pistol, five rounds of
expanding ammunition, 177
rounds of 9mm ammunition,
four Enfield pistols and a selfloading
rifle component.
Battalion, The Rifles, was found
unconscious on the ground following
the assault at 2.45am on September 20
last year.
He was taken by ambulance to the
Royal Cornwall Hospital before being
transferred to Derriford Hospital in
Plymouth where he died the following
day.
The serviceman left behind parents
Michael and June and sister Charley.
An estimated 800 people attended Mr
Curnow's funeral at Truro Cathedral as
he was given full military honours. The
young soldier's father described Mr
Curnow as 'the best son a father could
ask for'.
Soldier sues MOD over weather injury
An African born soldier
from Warwickshire is suing
the Ministry of Defence for
up to £200,000 for injuries
sustained during a training
exercise in extreme
weather conditions.
Abdoulie Bojang, who was
born in Gambia, says the
MoD 'failed to take his
ethnicity into account'
before exposing him to
cold temperatures during a
training exercise in Canada
in 2014.
Mr Bojang says he
sustained career ending
hand injuries after being
exposed to minus 30
degree cold during a ski
training session
codenamed "Exercise
Frozen Fun" with 105
Regiment Royal, Logistical
Corps.
The 30-year-old from
Nuneaton had been with
the regiment since 2006.
The MoD's defence to the
action was not available
from the court and the
contents of the writ have
yet to be tested in evidence
before a judge.