By Erwin James
Jimmy Johnson was jailed for murder after leaving the army in 1973. After his release he killed again. But is he just one of thousands who didn't receive help for post traumatic stress disorder?
'All I'm trying to do is get the government to acknowledge the truth," says Jimmy Johnson, 63, once a model soldier and now a model prisoner. Johnson, currently in Frankland maximum-security prison in Durham, where for the last 25 years he has been serving his second life sentence for murder, is a man with a mission. "The prison system is awash with ex-servicemen," he says, "and unless the government, and in particular the Ministry of Justice, starts taking this problem seriously, things are going to get much much worse."
Hat-Tip to Charles Cowling for sending me the link to this story.
I have first hand experience of an ex squaddie pal of mine with PTSD. How he's managed to stay right side of the law is a miracle. He doesn't get any help at all and his doctor is about as good as a fart in a collander, despite being an ex-serviceman himself.
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