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UK: War Hero Jailed for Growing Cannabis Plants

Stephen Wilkie

The Express

Saturday 20 Oct 2012

A VETERAN honoured for his service in Afghanistan and Iraq has been jailed after admitting helping to produce drugs worth more than £15,000.
Alan George was arrested after police raided the cottage he was staying in and found 35 cannabis plants hidden in a burger van outside the property.

George appeared for sentence at Peterhead Sheriff Court and was jailed for 41 weeks.

But Stuart Flowerdew, defending, said he had "simply been a caretaker" for the plants as his former co-accused, Stuart Kelly, allowed him to live in the property rent-free in exchange for watering them.

The court heard the 25-year-old, originally from Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, had struggled to find a job after leaving the Army.

George was offered a room at the farm at St Fergus with Kelly, who is serving more than six years in jail for stabbing a man.

The court heard George, who was personally honoured by Prince Charles, witnessed the stabbing and was intimidated by Kelly.

George, of Dundee, was hailed a hero in 2007 after he helped rescue badly wounded troops when an American patrol was ambushed in southern Iraq.

The TA soldier served with the 51st Highland, 7th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Mr Flowerdew told the court that first offender George had been an "exceptional" citizen all his life.

But Sheriff Simon Bowie said he had no option but to send George to prison as there was a "strong public interest" in discouraging people from getting involved in drugs.

George was with a group of Perth-based TA squaddies from the Alamein Company who were called from their camp beds to rescue seriously injured troops.

The farm worker headed out with two others to provide an armed escort for an air ambulance that was scrambled after a Humvee vehicle was blown up near the Kuwait border.

They found one US soldier dead and five injured.

After returning home from the tour, George said: "It's horrendous what we saw out there. It will be strange going back to the quiet of my farm after all that."

When the Prince presented his Iraq service medal, George added: "It really is a great honour."

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/353222

 

 

 

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