A young sailor from the Royal Navy has been granted a Royal pardon by the King of Bahrain after being incarcerated for intervening in a street fight.
Owen Haggerty, a 22 year old from Johnstone in Renfrewshire, is set to be freed after his imprisonment last month for attempting to halt a scuffle – this occurring just one day before he was due to complete his Middle East deployment.
Owen's mother, Kirsty Reynolds, had written a heartfelt letter directly to Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, pleading for her son’s release.
Today, her fervent appeals were met with success. An elated Kirsty revealed she's overwhelmed with relief, saying: "I can't stop shaking. It is unbelievable news, it is just such a massive hurdle that we have overcome in the fight to bring Owen home."
Kirsty, 41 and mother to three, expressed her concern that her letter might go unnoticed amidst the upcoming Eid al-Fitr celebrations. Her worries were compounded as she was discussing Owen's plight with MP Johanna Baxter when she began receiving persistent calls from an embassy contact, reports the Daily Record.
Detailing the moment, Kirsty recounted: "Johanna has been great and she was going to get his case raised in the House of Commons."
She continued: "I was on a call and I just saw the embassy number pop up, it came through three times. I told Johanna I had to go.
"I opened up my laptop and it said 'urgent call for Owen Haggerty'.
"My case worker came up and she said I've got some great news."
Overwhelmed with emotion, she added: "I just burst out crying right away I was just in disbelief.
"I sent a letter last Monday and today we have a royal pardon."
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Owen was sentenced to three months in prison after a 10 second hearing last month.
His family say he had tried to stop a street brawl and remained at the scene to check on an injured victim when he was taken away by police.
He had been held in a detention centre and later sent to tough Hidd Prison.
Owen's big brother Jack had flown out to Bahrain to support him through his earlier hearing.
His family told how he was not even allowed to defend himself in court before being jailed.
The young sailor is expected to be sent back to the Royal Navy base in Bahrain to be checked over before being allowed to fly back to the UK in the coming days.
Kirsty added: "The case worker told us just to hang fire just now. There are a few things that need to go through at the prison.
"Before the royal pardon the Navy said that they would be keen to get him back and check him over.
"Everyone has just kept pushing. We've never given up on getting Owen out of prison."
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