| Simon Mann, the leader of the failed coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea, was starting a seven-year jail sentence in Zimbabwe last night for trying to buy weapons from Zimbabwe's state arms manufacturer. A court in Harare ruled that the Old Etonian and former SAS officer should stay behind bars until 2011, crushing his hopes that British establishment figures could use their money and influence to secure his freedom. Handing down judgment at a makeshift court in the maximum security Chikurubi prison, the magistrate, Mishrod Guvamombe, said the offences were serious. "The accused was the author of the whole transaction. He was caught while trying to take the firearms out of the country." Mann would serve four years for attempting to purchase dangerous weapons and three more for trying to buy them without a licence, he said. |