Simon Mann jailed for 34 years for Equatorial Guinea coup plot

Malabo: British mercenary Simon Mann was jailed on Monday for 34 years by a court in Equatorial Guinea for a failed 2004 coup plot in which he said the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was also involved.

Mann, 56, an Eton-educated former army special forces officer, was sentenced to a prison term of 34 years, four months and three days for conspiring to topple President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in the small, oil-producing West African state.

Another defendant, Lebanese businessman Mohamed Salaam, received a jail sentence of 18 years, while four Equatorial Guinean nationals were given terms of 6 years each. Another was jailed for one year and one other was acquitted.

Mann was also ordered to pay a fine and compensation to the Equatorial Guinea state totaling around $24 million.