Nick Dunn tells his story in new book

Surviving Hell by the former solider and veteran of Afghanistan, which is published today (Thursday), details what happened when the 35 people on board the anti-piracy ship MV Seaman Guard Ohio were arrested by Indian authorities in October 2013.

Nick lost four years of his life trapped in a legal nightmare in India, thousands of miles from home and his family, spending the bulk of his time in appalling conditions at Chennai prison where communication with the outside world was extremely limited.

A campaign led by his sister Lisa helped to put pressure on the UK Government.

Nick and five others were stationed on the ship to protect vessels against Somali pirates. Dubbed the Chennai Six during the campaign, those involved raised awareness of how they had been falsely charged with intruding in Indian waters and the possession of illegal weapons.

The men were eventually released with a full acquittal in November 2017.

Nick said that people had asked him if he was going to tell his story and following a ‘lucky break’ at the back end of 2018, a publisher came on board and he worked with ghostwriter Howard Linskey to put the book together.

The 34-year-old added: “I did cry myself to sleep at first, but I quickly got into a routine to help deal with the mental torture I was going through.

“The book goes into detail about what things were like in prison on a daily basis and I see it as something to help me move forward in my life.

“I saw letters and news clippings about the campaign in the UK, but it wasn’t until I got home that I could truly appreciate how big it had become.

“People don’t really know what freedom means, but I do given what I went through.

“Reading books helped me in prison and in the current situation where people need to stay at home more, I hope people can be inspired by reading my full story.”

Surviving Hell, priced £18.99, is available online from mirrorbooks.co.uk and Amazon and the Waterstones website.

Timeline for Chennai Six following arrest

The men were detained port side for six days in October 2013 and were then sent to Chennai Central Prison 2.

The charges were quashed in April 2014 when it was successfully argued that the weapons were lawfully held for anti-piracy purposes and the paperwork, issued by the UK Government, was in order.

But Indian police appealed the decision and the men had to stay in India.

Nick said: “There was a lot of uncertainty in that period and the fact that the authorities lodged the appeal on day 88 out of the 90 they had available made it even more of a nightmare.”

The crew was jailed by a different judge in January 2016 and they were sent to Chennai Central Prison 1.

Lawyers were able to appeal on behalf of the men, but Nick tells in the book of the very slow process – for example, there were hearings where the prosecutor did not turn up and a couple where the judge did not turn up.

Eventually, in November 2017, the appeal judge ruled that all charges against the 35 men be dropped with immediate effect and the fines they were ordered to pay be refunded.

Nick returned home about 10 days later.

He said: “It was when we were flying from Dubai to Newcastle that it hit me that it truly was all over.

“Since I’ve been back, people have been really kind and friendly when they see me out and about.

“There were lots of little things I had to get used to again, like using a washing machine because in prison we washed our clothes in a bucket.”