FREED Hampshire mercenary Simon Mann arrived back in the UK today for what he called the "most wonderful homecoming I could ever have imagined".
The Old Etonian and ex-SAS soldier, who was pardoned earlier this week after being jailed over a bungled coup in Equatorial Guinea, touched down in a private jet at Luton Airport.
Mann, who could now face questioning by British police, did not speak directly to waiting journalists but issued a statement saying he was looking forward to meeting his son Arthur, who was born after he left the UK.
In his statement, read for him by spokesman Ian Monk, Mann said: ''This is the most wonderful homecoming I could ever have imagined.
''There hasn't been a moment during the last five and a half years when I have not dreamt of one day being back in Britain with my family.
''I'm especially looking forward to meeting my son Arthur, who was born a few months after I left the country and whom consequently I have never seen.
''I am hugely grateful to President Mbasogo for releasing me.
''It's the best early Christmas present my family and I could ever have imagined.
''As I know you will understand I have been away for five and a half tough years, much of it spent in solitary confinement.
''I now need time to adjust and so I would ask that you respect my privacy and that of my family during this period.''
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