Soldier with post traumatic stress disorder took two hostages at knifepoint

A soldier suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a tour of duty in Afghanistan held two members of his unit hostage, beating and threatening to kill them before attempting to kidnap them, a court martial heard.

L/Cpl David Millican, of the first battalion the Mercian Regiment, held one of the soldiers for several hours in his own barracks room at knifepoint after a night of drinking last August.

He then took the terrified man to the room of the second soldier, where he stubbed a cigarette out on the second man’s face and threatened to cut his face to resemble The Joker from Batman.

Millican, 25, then tried to kidnap the men from the Catterick base in North Yorkshire by car, but fled with one in the boot after the other managed to jump out at 30mph and raise the alarm. He released his second victim in the nearby village and called 999 to hand himself in to civilian police, telling the operator: “I think I lost the plot.”

The soldier, originally from Manchester, who has been in the army since February 2009, was jailed for four years by the court martial in Colchester, having previously admitted charges of false imprisonment, assault and kidnap.

The court martial heard he was suffering mental problems caused by his service in Afghanistan on Operation Herrick 12, when he witnessed “horrific events”.