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Sailor jailed in Bahrain freed after royal pardon

GoFundMe Owen Haggerty smiles into the camera while dressed in his sailor's uniform. HMS Raleigh is written on his hat.GoFundMe
Owen Haggerty was sentenced to three months in jail after breaking up a fight in a street

A Royal Navy sailor has been freed from jail in Bahrain after receiving a royal pardon.

Owen Haggerty, from Johnstone in Renfrewshire, was sentenced last month to three months in jail after reportedly trying to break up a fight in the street.

The Daily Record reported his mother Kirsty Reynolds wrote to the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, asking for a royal pardon for her son.

She said she "burst out crying" when she was given the news the pardon had been granted.

She told the newspaper that it was "unbelievable news" and that a "massive hurdle" had been overcome in bringing Mr Haggerty, 22, home.

Paisley and Renfrewshire South Labour MP Johanna Baxter said she was "very pleased that he has been granted a royal pardon by the King of Bahrain".

She added that the news would be a "a tremendous relief" for Mr Haggerty's family, friends, and colleagues.

However during the weekly business questions session in Westminster on Thursday, Ms Baxter told the Commons no-one from the UK government would speak with her about the case when Mr Haggerty was in prison.

She told MPs: "No-one would engage with me to inform me of his welfare or the current status of his case, and that was because apparently I did not have his explicit consent.

"He was sitting in a jail in Bahrain. I had his mother's consent. She was also a constituent, and yet still nobody would speak to me."

She asked Commons Leader Lucy Powell to ensure that the foreign office work with her to arrange Mr Haggerty's urgent deportation back to this country, and that "further delays" be avoided in any future cases like this.

Ms Powell replied: "I am pleased that Owen Haggerty has now received that pardon this morning. She raised this matter with me a couple of days ago, which is why I raised it with the Foreign Office, which is why they were in touch with her this morning."

She added the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office had worked tirelessly to secure the pardon, and vowed to press them to work with Ms Baxter and Mr Haggerty's family to make sure he comes back to the UK.