A SCOT detained without charge in an Indian jail for almost three months is to be released on bail.
Former soldier Billy Irving, 33, from Connel in Argyll, was among six Brits arrested after local police caught them allegedly illegally carrying weapons when their boat, the US-owned MV Seaman Ohio, docked in Tamil Nadu in October.
The vessel had come into shore to shelter from a typhoon.
The men are all employed by private US security firm AdvanFort and had been hired to protect ships in the Indian Ocean from pirates.
Bail had been refused on a number of occasions, but Advanfort said a judge had now ordered their release and the company would pay an undisclosed amount in bail.
The men currently remain in custody.
In a statement, the company said: "The most urgent and compelling interest for all involved - including the families of the captives, the AdvanFort Company and most importantly the guards and crew themselves - has been to release them from confinement.
"The AdvanFort Company sends a special note of thanks to their loved ones for their patience and understanding as we continue to press on 24/7, across ten time zones, to secure their full release."
Mr Irving's brother, Jamie, said his family were delighted and hoped Mr Irving would be home soon.
Mr Irving's family and girlfriend, Yvonne McHugh, had previously called on the Foreign Secretary William Hague to help free the prisoners.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article