Danny Nightingale ( soldier ) Danny Harold Nightingale ( born 1975 ) is a British soldier from Crewe . He came to public attention in 2012 after he was court - martialed for illegal possession of a pistol and ammunition . Background . Nightingale enlisted in the British Army in 1995 , and served in the Duke of Lancaster ' s Regiment . He also served as a sergeant in the Special Air Service from 2001 , undertaking tours of duty in Northern Ireland , Bosnia , Lebanon , Turkey , Iraq , Afghanistan , Syria and Libya . He helped develop the " Nightingale Dressing " , a large occlusive dressing used in the management of penetrating chest trauma . Trial and campaign for release . In 2011 , Nightingale was arrested when police found a Glock pistol and 338 rounds of ammunition in his house . Nightingale claimed that he could not remember being given the pistol and said that he had suffered memory loss following a serious illness . In November 2012 , a Court Martial sentenced him to 18 months detention in the Military Corrective Training Centre . Philip Hammond , Secretary of State for Defence , asked Dominic Grieve , Attorney General , " to review whether the public interest test has been applied appropriately " . Grieve declined to do so , saying the decision to prosecute and the appropriateness of the sentence were " a matter for the court martial appeal court , in due course . " During a debate in the House of Commons several MPs called for Nightingale ' s release . A petition asking for the same gathered more than 100 , 000 signatures . Nightingale and his supporters claimed that his trial had become " political " and that the authorities were pursuing a vendetta towards Nightingale because he had challenged the military prosecutors . On 29 November 2012 the Court Martials Appeal Court reduced and suspended the original sentence pending a further hearing . On 13 March 2013 , the conviction resulting from Nightingale ' s guilty plea was quashed by the Court Martials Appeal Court and a retrial was ordered . Retrial . On 1 July 2013 , Nightingale ' s retrial began at the Bulford military court . With legal costs potentially exceeding £100 , 000 a fundraising campaign was launched by campaign group Big Brother Watch . At trial , Nightingale said that his previous defence had been false and instead claimed the pistol and ammunition " must have belonged to his colleague and housemate , " who was also an SAS soldier . Explaining why he had previously given a false version of events , William Clegg QC , for the defence , said that Nightingale had no memory of receiving the pistol and did not now believe it was his , and that his documented brain injury may have led to him " ' confabulating ' , or piecing together plausible stories from what he hears or sees around him " to explain how it came to be in his bedroom . On 10 July Nightingale was found guilty and released on bail . On 25 July 2013 he was sentenced to two years detention , suspended for 12 months . Commodore His Honour Judge Jeffrey Blackett , the Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces , and a Senior Circuit Judge said in his sentencing remarks : " We understand how difficult these proceedings have been for you and your family . However , you have brought much of that anguish upon yourself and your public assertions that you are a scapegoat or the victim of some wider political agenda is absolute nonsense . " The judge also said that the case deserved a sentence of immediate custody , which would have been imposed save for the earlier remarks of the Court of Appeal . Nightingale ' s explanation of how the pistol and ammunition came to be in his bedroom was , said the judge , a " made up [ and ] spurious defence which falsely impugned the character of a fellow soldier and caused a number of SAS soldiers to risk their own security in giving evidence . " The judge also directed remarks toward " commentators and MPs " who had criticised the prosecution , stating : " I trust that those who have been so critical of the service prosecuting authority and the court martial process – particularly those who made unfounded and uninformed remarks under the cloak of parliamentary privilege – now realise how inappropriate and wrong their criticisms were . " Nightingale was banned by the SAS from making further comments to the media . His family said they had no regrets over pursuing the retrial and would " seek legal advice before considering an appeal . "