Ive been hallucinating while sleeping.Im not surprised anymore when guards are beating people with bamboo sticks or if someone is taken to hospital with a slit throat.[1]

These are the words of a living a nightmare, a nightmare that my partner Billy is also in. He is one of six British ex-soldiers who has been arrested and jailed by the Indian authorities while working to protect merchant ships vulnerable to pirate attacks. 

He has now been in jail for 86 days, with no help from the British Government. Billy and the other five men were working for a maritime security firm. The Indian Government says it believes their ship was in possession of illegal firearms. Billys employer, US company Advanfort, told them they had all the correct paperwork for the equipment they had onboard. 

Ive started a petition calling on the UK Government to step in and help the boys.

The families have had to spend Christmas and New Year not knowing what is happening. Advanfort have offered little support, with no legal protection for the boys and have now stopped paying the boys wages -- some of whom have children and wives to support. Our Government is their only hope. We are pleading with the Foreign Office to intervene and help bring them back home.  

These boys are ex-soldiers who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Billy devoted his life to this country and now he needs his this countrys help. Please sign my petition calling on the UK Government to step up and help us to bring these boys home to their families. 

Thank you for your support.

Yvonne MacHugh

1. Sunday Post: Indian prison hell of scots pirate hunter