HAMPSHIRE mercenary Simon Mann was today sentenced to 34 years in jail over a failed coup plot in Equatorial Guinea.
Former SAS officer Mann, 55, who owns Inchmery House mansion at Exbury, near Beaulieu, was accused of masterminding an operation to oust President Obiang.
Mann, an old Etonian, was originally arrested with around 70 other people, mostly former soldiers, when their aircraft arrived at an airport in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, in March 2004.
Mann based his defence on a plea for clemency.
In court he repeated his claim that he was only a junior member of the coup team.
Equatorial Guinea's government had accused Mann of masterminding a failed coup plot financed by Mark Thatcher, son of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
The government says the accused hoped to install an exiled opposition leader who would open up Africa's third-biggest oil producer to them.
Mann admitted in court that he knowingly agreed to take part in the coup and apologised for his role.
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