This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23195542

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Danny Nightingale trial: SAS sniper 'apologised over gun' Danny Nightingale trial: SAS sniper 'apologised over gun'
(about 3 hours later)
An SAS sniper apologised to police for having a pistol in his bedroom, a trial over his possession of a gun has heard.An SAS sniper apologised to police for having a pistol in his bedroom, a trial over his possession of a gun has heard.
Sgt Danny Nightingale, 38, of Crewe, Cheshire, denies illegally possessing a Glock 9mm pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition.Sgt Danny Nightingale, 38, of Crewe, Cheshire, denies illegally possessing a Glock 9mm pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition.
In his police interview videos played to the court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire, Mr Nightingale said he had intended to get the gun decommissioned. In his police interview videos, played to the court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire, Sgt Nightingale said he had intended to get the gun decommissioned.
He said: "I have for no excuse, it's just something I didn't do." He told the court he had no memory of receiving the weapon in 2007.
The court martial heard the pistol was given to him "from someone in Iraq". In the videos shown to the court, Sgt Nightingale said: "I have for no excuse, it's just something I didn't do."
It was recovered, along with ammunition, when civilian police searched his house in 2011, the hearing was told. The father-of-two told the court martial he had not been given the pistol by an Iraqi national while on operations in the country.
Sgt Nightingale shared the house with another member of the SAS. He said he had no memory of receiving it due to a brain injury he suffered in 2009.
In his police interview, he also said "sometimes you have extra ammo" and "in the mad rush" he had not put it in the amnesty box. Sgt Nightingale also told the court he had not stored 338 rounds of ammunition left over from training sessions under his bed.
He said: "I should have done this but I haven't done it yet. The ammunition should have been handed in." William Clegg QC, defending, asked Sgt Nightingale to explain the account he gave to police in 2011 following a search of a house he shared with another SAS man, known as Soldier N.
'Very diligent individual'
"I have physical or tangible memory, I have no recollection of receiving the gun." Sgt Nightingale told the court martial.
"However, hindsight of seeing statements etc, I now know that Soldier N had told me that he had been given a pistol and that he had ammunition there.
"I have seen (my superior) and been told what is in the house and Soldier N said everything else in the house was his bar what was in the bedroom.
"I have always maintained that I am a very diligent individual and did not understand how it could be there."
Sgt Nightingale also said he appreciated he had a memory issue and it was feasible he "had received something".
He said: "The only time I had been in Iraq was 2007. The only way it could have come back, as I have no memory of it, would be in a box.
"That's the best I can explain for the gun."
Sgt Nightingale told the court he also had no memory of how the ammunition came to be found in a plastic box under his bed.
"It was my admin box where I would keep books, pencils. Therefore, I really assumed it must have been put there when I moved out of my mess in a great rush."
He admitted any ammunition should have been handed in.
Sgt Nightingale, of Crewe, Cheshire, whose regiment was listed as The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border), has pleaded not guilty to a charge of possession of a prohibited firearm - a Glock 9mm pistol - between November 26 2007 and September 16 2011.
He also denies possessing a range of different types of ammunition on or about 16 September 2011.