Sgt Nightingale is free!

He’s home for Christmas! On Friday, Sergeant Danny Nightingale walked out of court a free man. Judges agreed his sentence should be suspended – and 38 Degrees members played a big part in making this happen.

After Danny was released his wife Sally thanked each and every one of us who signed the 109,000 strong petition supporting her husband.

Last month Danny was sentenced to 18 months’ detention for possessing a pistol given to him as a gift by soldiers he had trained in the Iraqi army. There was a lot of media coverage focussing on how the sentence given to Danny was too harsh – his conviction came after a series of tragedies that went some way to explaining why the pistol came to be sitting in Danny’s home.

After hearing Danny’s story, 38 Degrees member Pat decided that she wanted to help the Nightingale family by starting an online petition calling for his release.

Pat used the new part or our website – Campaigns By You – to launch her petition and gather the thousands of signatures of support which helped to re-unite Danny with his family. Campaigns By You is an area of the 38 Degrees site where members can set up and run their own campaigns on the really important issues, both local and national, that we all care about.

On the day, 38 Degrees members braved the cold to come and show their support for Danny. After 38 Degrees member Pat delivered our 109,000 thousand strong petition to Danny’s wife Sally, his lawyers carried it into court and used it to help win his case. Again, 38 Degrees members have shown together that people power can make our country a fairer place.

Rather than spending the next 18 months in a cell, today Danny’s home for Christmas with his wife Sally and their little girls, Alys and Mara. And 38 Degrees members raised almost £42,000 to help the family pay off the huge cost of winning Danny’s freedom. Last week, we helped change Danny Nightingale’s life.