A FORMER soldier who helped protect shipping firms against Somalian pirates is planning to sue police after he was accused of helping the outlaws hijack boats and kidnap people.
(Express.UK)- Steven Platt, 34, served his country for seven years with the Welsh Guards.
He quit the Army in 2005 to set up a security company and says he spent years risking his life protecting vessels off the coast of Somalia, where gangs of heavily armed murderous pirates have terrorised the seas and seized countless boats.
One day in November 2013, while on a break at his home near Cardiff, he was suddenly surrounded by police working for the National Crime Agency, arrested and taken away for questioning.
While he was being held, officers in the 30-strong team searched his house and the homes of other family members.
Steven said: “I was in a state of shock. They accused me of working with pirates to steal boats and kidnap people. I told them they had got their wires crossed. I said I was protecting the boats from pirates. There was no way I was working with them.
“I wasn’t charged but there was still a massive cloud hanging over me while they checked everything out.”
With his computers seized and contacts deserting him, he found it impossible to work while on bail and had to wait for the investigation to finish.
However, it was not until November last year that the crime agency sent him a letter saying: “Inquiries have been ongoing with overseas authorities which can sometimes take a significant period of time.
“These inquiries have now been completed and I can confirm that the investigation will now be closed with no further action taking place against you in respect of this offence.”
Steven said: “It was good to get the letter clearing me but it came very late and it has not helped me get my business back together.