26 Facts About Simon Mann

Simon Francis Mann was born on 26 June 1952 and is a British mercenary and former officer in the SAS.

Simon Mann trained to be an officer at Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Scots Guards.

On 7 March 2004, Mann is alleged to have led the 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup attempt.

Simon Mann was arrested by Zimbabwean police in Harare airport along with 64 other mercenaries.

Simon Mann eventually served three years of a four-year prison sentence in Zimbabwe, and less than two years of a 34 years and four months sentence in Equatorial Guinea.

Simon Mann's father, George, captained the England cricket team in the late 1940s and was an heir to a stake in the Watney Mann brewing empire that closed in 1979, having been acquired by Grand Metropolitan.

Simon Mann later became a member of the SAS and served in Cyprus, Germany, Norway and Northern Ireland before leaving the forces in 1985.

Simon Mann volunteered as a reservist for the Gulf War.

Simon Mann then entered the field of computer security; however, his interest in this industry lapsed when he returned from his service in the Gulf and he entered the oil industry to work with Tony Buckingham.

Simon Mann went on to establish Sandline International with fellow ex-Scots Guards Colonel Tim Spicer in 1996.

Simon Mann operated mostly in Angola and Sierra Leone, but in 1997 Sandline received a commission from the government of Papua New Guinea to suppress a rebellion on the island of Bougainville and the company came to international prominence, but received much negative publicity following the Sandline affair.

Simon Mann eventually pleaded guilty to negligently supplying financial assistance for the plot.

Simon Mann's compatriots received one-year sentences for violating immigration laws and their two pilots got 16 months.

The journalist Adam Roberts has argued that Morgan was in the unusual situation of being both a supporter of the coup and an agent for the government, and that Simon Mann knew Morgan was acting as an informant, but as a way of sounding out whether or not the South African government would care.

Simon Mann emphasises that Morgan had personal and professional ties to Johann Smith, a South African Special Forces veteran and security adviser to President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, and most likely alerted President Thabo Mbeki after the failed first attempt, who in turn tipped off the government of Robert Mugabe.

Peter Fabricius, writing in the South African Journal of International Affairs, suggested that then President South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, once informed of Simon Mann's plan, allowed the plotters to take off and then be caught on the tarmac in Zimbabwe, in order to make a public example of the Wonga coup and deter further mercenary activity.

Simon Mann remained in Zimbabwe, where he was convicted of charges from the same incident.

On 2 May 2007, a Zimbabwe court ruled that Simon Mann should be extradited to Equatorial Guinea to face charges, although the Zimbabweans promised that he would not face the death penalty.

Simon Mann's extradition was described as the "oil for Mann" deal, in reference to the large amounts of oil that Mugabe has managed to secure from Equatorial Guinea.

Simon Mann lost his last appeal against the decision to extradite him.

In Equatorial Guinea Simon Mann was incarcerated in Black Beach Prison, one of Africa's most notorious prisons and often viewed as synonymous with brutality.

Concern for Simon Mann's plight was raised in the UK Parliament in the year of his arrest in Zimbabwe by three Conservative Members of Parliament.

My constituent, Mr Simon Mann, has completed his jail sentence in Zimbabwe but has been transferred by the Mugabe regime to a potentially terrible fate in Equatorial Guinea, despite the fact that his appeals processes have not been completed and despite the assurances given to the British ambassador to Zimbabwe that would not happen.

On 7 July 2008, Simon Mann was sentenced by an Equatoguinean court to more than 34 years in prison.

In 2024, Simon Mann provided The Daily Telegraph with access to emails and unpublished memoirs providing additional information.

Simon Mann's memoir, Cry Havoc, was published in 2011, to mixed reviews.