A Royal Navy officer has been jailed in Bahrain after he allegedly stepped in to help break up a fight between a couple.
Owen Haggerty, who was on his first deployment, was arrested on assault charges in the middle eastern country last month and was being held in a detention centre.
Haggerty, 22, was convicted of the crime in court on Wednesday and sentenced to three months in jail.
The sailor was expected to return to Britain in February after having spent four months in Bahrain.
His ‘terrified’ mother Kirsty Reynolds has spent over £4,000 hiring her own lawyer and is working with her local MP, the Home Office and the Royal Navy to get her son back to the UK.
She fears that Haggerty ‘won’t come out alive’ after being locked up with dangerous criminals in the foreign country.
‘He’s going to be in with murderers, rapists, all the horrible people,’ Reynolds, a salon owner from Glasgow, said.
‘All I wanted was to welcome him home. Now, I don’t know if I ever will.’
Haggerty, who always wanted to travel, joined the Royal Navy in 2021. He left for his first deployment in Bahrain in October 2024.
Owen Haggerty, 22, was arrested on assault charges in Bahrain last month and was being held in a detention centre. He was convicted on Wednesday and sentenced to three months in jail
His ‘terrified’ mother Kirsty Reynolds (pictured with Haggerty) has spent over £4,000 hiring her own lawyer and is working with her local MP, the Home Office and the Royal Navy to get her son back to the UK
Reynolds, 41, said her heart sank when she received a call from a Royal Navy Officer who said that her son had been arrested while deployed.
The young sailor was just one day away from finishing his first overseas assignment when he tried to stop a brawl in the middle of the street last month.
Haggerty, after the fight, remained on the scene to help an injured victim, but was taken into custody when police arrived, The Daily Record reports.
He had been held in a detention centre until Wednesday when a judge ordered him to three months in jail.
Reynolds alleged that her son ‘never even got a chance to speak in court’ before authorities handed down his sentence.
‘It was over in a matter of seconds,’ she said. ‘The colour drained from my face as I was told the news.’
‘When I spoke to Owen, he was in floods of tears. He told me: ‘I’m trying to stay positive, but I just want to come home.’
‘My whole world has shattered.’
Reynolds, 41, (pictured with her son) said her heart sank when she received a call from a Royal Navy Officer who said that her son had been arrested while deployed
The young sailor was just one day away from finishing his first overseas assignment when he tried to stop a brawl in the middle of the street last month
Reynolds, who was concerned about his safety, was pleasantly surprised when he appeared to be having ‘the time of his life’.
She added: ‘I haven’t slept a wink. It’s absolutely draining. I can’t process it. It’s so surreal.’
‘It’s going to be so dangerous. I’m terrified he’s not going to come out alive,’ she added, claiming that Haggerty is ‘such a positive and happy person with not a bad bone in his body’.
She is also worried that her son ‘mentally can’t do any more time over there, especially in prison.’
Haggerty’s older brother Jack, 29, travelled to Bahrain four weeks ago to support his younger sibling.
Jack said he felt ‘completely helpless’ after Haggerty’s court hearing on Wednesday, which he says was the last time he got to see his brother.
‘When we came out of the court, I was speaking to the lawyer. It had been in Arabic and Owen was behind and overheard what was said. It looked as if he could have just broken down,’ he told the newspaper.
‘He was handcuffed to another inmate and I was trying to walk with him to talk to him but could only follow to a certain point.’
The Royal Navy says it is working with British Embassy in Bahrain and is in ‘egular contact with Bahrain’s law enforcement authorities’. The Foreign Office also assisting Haggerty’s family
Jack branded the situation as ‘horrendous’ and says the family, knowing how difficult the last five weeks have been, are worried for Haggerty’s future.
They fear the next three months in jail is ‘mentally going to scar him for life’, with Jack claiming the situation is ‘completely inhumane’.
He told the Record that Haggerty would spend 23 hours a day in a cell while at the detention centre and only ‘gets out for one hour’.
‘His brother said he’s just a shell of himself – how much more is he going to be able to take?,’ Reynolds echoed. ‘Nobody ever expected it to go this far. He’s just a boy.’
A Royal Navy spokesperson told the newspaper that ‘welfare of our people is a top priority which is why we are continuing to support a member of the Royal Navy detained in Bahrain as well as his family’.
‘We are working with the British Embassy in Bahrain and in regular contact with Bahrain’s law enforcement authorities,’ the statement added.
‘Regular visits have been made to the individual by the chain of command, colleagues and consular officials to provide support.’
The Foreign Office also told the Record that it is assisting Haggerty’s family.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .