Beaten, drugged and locked up in mental hospital

Rat infestations, unbearable heat and near starvation are daily battles for the #Chennai6, six Britons - including one Cumbrian - currently serving a five-year sentence in Puzhal Prison, Chennai, India.

They were among 35 men convicted of illegally possessing firearms in international waters - charges they have vehemently denied since day one.

But last year Joanne Thomlinson, from Wigton, spoke of her brother’s terrifying ordeal at the hands of Indian prison guards - when he was wrongly accused being insane.

For the first time, former Paratrooper John Armstrong has admitted just how bad the situation truly was.

"It has been the toughest part of the four years," the 30-year-old told the News & Star.

"I was alone outside, fending off more than 10 guards and prisoners trying to drag me into a bus from inside the prison."

He was overpowered, eventually being taken to a hospital for the mentally ill, where he was injected with unknown drugs, hooked up to a drip and given daily medication.

"In a way I'm extremely lucky I was able to spit all my 10 tablets daily back into a cup without the doctors noticing," he admits, "because they observed me taking the pills.

"There were good people in the hospital as nearly every day they gave me a phone to call home, so that was a relief for my family and me."

Confused and scared, John was horrified when he later learned the reason behind his insanity 'diagnosis'.

He said: "The hardest thing I had to hear was that some of the prisoners, prior to me being taken away, were informing to the prison Superintendent that I was not washing regularly.

"In reality I have an allergic reaction to the water that's supplied to the prison - which is not surprising as it's full of worms and very slimy.

"Let's suppose even if I had gone insane, you certainly wouldn't liaise with the prison authorities to deal with me.

"After all that has happened to all of us here, I find it awful that there is an informer amongst ourselves."

For his sister Joanne, 32, it is the fear of it happening again which plays on her mind.

"The Foreign Office lodged a complaint," she said, "but we have never had a response.

"It was the same year they were convicted and it was like going back into the unknown all over again.

"We had questions about the medication being given to him and what was in the drip, but we have never been given the answers to that. I think it was the drugs that was the most dangerous part of the situation."

The mum-of-two added: "It's the most scared for John we've ever been, and he refers to it as the worst thing that's ever happened to him.”

Who are the #Chennai6?

John Armstrong, 30, is one of six Britons, known as the #Chennai6. The others are: Billy Irving, Ray Tindall, Paul Towers, Nick Simpson and Nick Dunn.

They were all working as maritime security guards - or pirate hunters - for the American company AdvanFort when they were arrested on board the Seaman Guard Ohio, alongside the other 29 crew members, in October 2013.
Joanne Thomlinson, far right, joins protesters marching through London calling for action be taken to free the #Chennai6

After seven months in jail, they were released on bail and the charges were later quashed - ruling them officially free men.

However, Q Branch - the section of the police which led their prosecution - appealed that decision and, 18 months later, the case finally went to court.

In January 2016 the 35 men were convicted and sentenced to five years in jail. An appeal was lodged the following month, and finally heard in November 2016.

There is still as yet no decision on that appeal - but last week [MON 13] the Supreme Court said the judge should give his verdict within 14 days.

'A living nightmare': Where the #Chennai6 are being held

Puzhal Prison, about an hour's drive from Chennai itself, is surrounded by high walls and barbed wire.

The guards are armed with rifles and bayonets which appear to date from decades earlier, as they stand at every gate and checkpoint.

For John, it is a living hell.

It has no air conditioning to ease the heat in summer, and floods during the rainy season - causing poisonous snakes to flee their burrows and posing a real danger to the inmates.

The former painter and decorator, who worked with his dad, also called John Armstrong, has tried to give an insight into life on the inside.

"I wake at about 6am, and got to sleep at about 10pm. I spend the day walking around outside," he said, "and sometimes do running and I also read a little.
Central Prison in Puzhal, Chennai

"I used to go and see one of my friends in another block, but I became one of the only prisoners to be banned from seeing another prisoner, as they deemed him 'very dangerous'. As I'm living next door to murderers, I'm not so convinced a guy on a narcotics case poses much risk."

Pressed on the conditions, John described them as a living nightmare.

"They're bad. To a local national, who is not aware of sanitation, they are probably very good, but for a foreigner it is literally a hell hole.

"The toilet and showers have not been cleaned or emptied in months,” he said.

“Plastic is always burning beside the rooms and there is an infestation of rats.

"At the moment - during the rainy season - it's relatively cool, but when the sun is out it reaches 40C. There is no way of cooling down, as even the water is hot on those days.”

The prison has three units: the remand block, the convict block, and a separate women’s block. It houses up to 2,500 prisoners, including a high security unit - where the six Britons are being held.

Yvonne MacHugh, fiance to Scottish pirate hunter Billy Irving, told the News & Star: “There’s a guy in there who stole a baby, raped the baby, and then murdered the baby. That’s the kind of men they’re in there with.

“Our men, they’re not criminals, they’re not bad people. They’ve done absolutely nothing wrong and they’re still being forced to basically socialise with murderers and rapists and child killers.

“It’s disgusting."