Downfall of a war hero: Master sniper who took out Taliban chief a mile away faces court for attack on girlfriend
this article by Paul harris first appeared in the Daily Mail, July 22nd 2011
His selfless bravery and outstanding skill made him a hero of the war in Afghanistan.
Corporal Christopher Reynolds’s repeated acts of gallantry – plus an extraordinary sniper shot that took out a Taliban commander from more than a mile away – earned him the Military Cross.
But when the Queen presented him with his medal last July, his pride hid a dark depression. The 26-year-old Black Watch sniper commander was battling a breakdown.
This led to a vicious attack on his live-in girlfriend, whom he repeatedly punched in the face before throwing a glass at her.
Had it not been for a judge’s understanding of Cpl Reynolds’s plight, he would today be behind bars.
However ‘the strain of warfare’ and his deteriorating mental health were accepted as being to blame for the assault a month before the medal ceremony on 29-year-old Catherine Aitken, who was said to have been ‘put through hell’.
This week at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, he was ordered to pay her £500 compensation but avoided a prison sentence.
The harrowing tale of a hero’s descent into depression began after Reynolds, who had already served in Iraq, embarked on a six-month tour of duty with the Black Watch in April 2009. According to his medal citation, in one incident he stood up in the face of ‘considerable’ enemy fire, emptied his sniper rifle, picked up another one and started firing it – then grabbed a machine gun to spray a Taliban strongpoint from a rooftop ‘while fully exposed to enemy fire’. The sniper’s ‘outstanding technical ability’ helped to credit him with taking out 32 insurgents.
But it was a seemingly impossible shot on a Taliban warlord more than 2,000 yards away which launched Cpl Reynolds to military glory.
He hid on a shop roof for three days to wait for perfect conditions to shoot a terrorist commander known as Mula, said to have co-ordinated a series of attacks against British and U.S. troops.
He and a spotter saw a group of five Taliban in the distance. ‘I identified one straight away as the commander because I watched him through the scope,’ he said. ‘When he spoke on the radio, the other one would do what he said. I saw that he had a weapon, an AK47.
‘I have to admit the first round landed next to him. We were so far away that he didn’t even realise he was being shot at.’
With the next shot, Reynolds hit Mula in the chest at a distance of 1,853 metres (6,079ft). It was roughly the equivalent of firing from St Paul’s Cathedral and hitting Lord Nelson atop his column in Trafalgar Square. As he later put it: ‘He’d been given a lead sleeping tablet. I was quite proud of that shot.’
The soldier was separated from his wife Becca but still in touch with her and their four-year-old son Joshua. At the time she revealed she still phoned him once a week in Afghanistan.
She said she was ‘so proud’ of her hero, who undoubtedly saved many lives through the acts of bravery underlying his celebrated sniper shot. ‘He really takes his job seriously,’ she said. ‘He loves it. He’s really got his head screwed on.’
Compare that with the dark story which unfolded in Kirkcaldy this week, in which Miss Aitken, a youth worker, became the innocent victim of his mental turmoil.
The court heard she had become deeply concerned about his increasingly violent temper since coming home from the war.
He launched the brutal attack on her in an argument at the home they shared in the town.
Reynolds was accompanied in court by a captain from his regiment. His solicitor, Krista Johnston, said he had gone AWOL for more than four months and his mental health appeared to have deteriorated.
But she added that ‘all being well he will continue in the Army’. The court heard he could be transferred to another regiment.
Outside court, Miss Aitken, who is no longer in contact with him, said she did not want to speak about the case and was ‘just looking forward to moving on’.
The Combat Stress charity, which has worked with more than 100,000 veterans since it was founded after the First World War, is helping more than 600 British ex-servicemen and women who returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Some are so traumatised, or unable to come down from a state of hyper-alertness, that they cannot cope with everyday situations such as shopping in crowds.
Spokesman Neil Cox said the numbers being cared for rise steadily. ‘There is often a long gap, on average just over 13 years, between people leaving the Forces and seeking help. It’s particularly difficult for strong guys or so-called macho men who are less able or willing to accept what would be perceived by them as a weakness.’
Corporal Christopher Reynolds’s repeated acts of gallantry – plus an extraordinary sniper shot that took out a Taliban commander from more than a mile away – earned him the Military Cross.
But when the Queen presented him with his medal last July, his pride hid a dark depression. The 26-year-old Black Watch sniper commander was battling a breakdown.
This led to a vicious attack on his live-in girlfriend, whom he repeatedly punched in the face before throwing a glass at her.
Had it not been for a judge’s understanding of Cpl Reynolds’s plight, he would today be behind bars.
However ‘the strain of warfare’ and his deteriorating mental health were accepted as being to blame for the assault a month before the medal ceremony on 29-year-old Catherine Aitken, who was said to have been ‘put through hell’.
This week at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, he was ordered to pay her £500 compensation but avoided a prison sentence.
The harrowing tale of a hero’s descent into depression began after Reynolds, who had already served in Iraq, embarked on a six-month tour of duty with the Black Watch in April 2009. According to his medal citation, in one incident he stood up in the face of ‘considerable’ enemy fire, emptied his sniper rifle, picked up another one and started firing it – then grabbed a machine gun to spray a Taliban strongpoint from a rooftop ‘while fully exposed to enemy fire’. The sniper’s ‘outstanding technical ability’ helped to credit him with taking out 32 insurgents.
But it was a seemingly impossible shot on a Taliban warlord more than 2,000 yards away which launched Cpl Reynolds to military glory.
He hid on a shop roof for three days to wait for perfect conditions to shoot a terrorist commander known as Mula, said to have co-ordinated a series of attacks against British and U.S. troops.
Long distance death: Snipers can strike from more than a mile away - as Reynolds demonstrated when he took down a Taliban chief
‘I have to admit the first round landed next to him. We were so far away that he didn’t even realise he was being shot at.’
With the next shot, Reynolds hit Mula in the chest at a distance of 1,853 metres (6,079ft). It was roughly the equivalent of firing from St Paul’s Cathedral and hitting Lord Nelson atop his column in Trafalgar Square. As he later put it: ‘He’d been given a lead sleeping tablet. I was quite proud of that shot.’
The soldier was separated from his wife Becca but still in touch with her and their four-year-old son Joshua. At the time she revealed she still phoned him once a week in Afghanistan.
She said she was ‘so proud’ of her hero, who undoubtedly saved many lives through the acts of bravery underlying his celebrated sniper shot. ‘He really takes his job seriously,’ she said. ‘He loves it. He’s really got his head screwed on.’
Back in the day: The Military Cross was awarded to Corporal Christopher Sean Reynolds,l left, for his skilled work in Afghanistan
The court heard she had become deeply concerned about his increasingly violent temper since coming home from the war.
He launched the brutal attack on her in an argument at the home they shared in the town.
Reynolds was accompanied in court by a captain from his regiment. His solicitor, Krista Johnston, said he had gone AWOL for more than four months and his mental health appeared to have deteriorated.
But she added that ‘all being well he will continue in the Army’. The court heard he could be transferred to another regiment.
Outside court, Miss Aitken, who is no longer in contact with him, said she did not want to speak about the case and was ‘just looking forward to moving on’.
The Combat Stress charity, which has worked with more than 100,000 veterans since it was founded after the First World War, is helping more than 600 British ex-servicemen and women who returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Some are so traumatised, or unable to come down from a state of hyper-alertness, that they cannot cope with everyday situations such as shopping in crowds.
Spokesman Neil Cox said the numbers being cared for rise steadily. ‘There is often a long gap, on average just over 13 years, between people leaving the Forces and seeking help. It’s particularly difficult for strong guys or so-called macho men who are less able or willing to accept what would be perceived by them as a weakness.’
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