Mercenary faces 34 years in African jail (From Bournemouth Echo)

Mercenary faces 34 years in African jail

7:02am Tuesday 8th July 2008 in

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British mercenary Simon Mann put on a brave face after being handed a 34-year prison sentence for his part in an African coup plot.

Speaking to Channel 4 News about his reaction to the verdict by a court in Equatorial Guinea, he said: "Well, I'll just have to push it."

Mann said he did not know whether he would be able to appeal because he did not know "how it works here".

He denied any knowledge of the possibility of a pardon from the country's president.

Mann, from Beaulieu in the New Forest, was sentenced over a failed coup plot in Equatorial Guinea. The 55-year-old former SAS officer was accused of masterminding an operation to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.