Brit paratrooper hero held in Georgian prison for possessing legally prescribed drugs uses life savings to secure freedom... and celebrates with a Big Mac

By ANDREW JEHRING, CHIEF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT Published: 15:22, 16 July 2026 | Updated: 15:27, 16 July 2026 A British paratrooper hero was released from a notorious Georgian prison today for possessing legally prescribed drugs – and celebrated with a Big Mac. Former sergeant Matthew 'Des' Desmond, 49, used his life savings to pay a £28,200 fine and legal fees of over £30,000 to secure his freedom. He had been languishing in agony in Gldani Prison for three months after being arrested for entering with medication for a spinal injury from a jump in Afghanistan. Despite declaring the drugs when crossing the Turkish border on his Triumph motorbike and showing a prescription he was locked up and only given painkillers every other day. After stumping up £60,000 in costs, pleading guilty to importing narcotics, and accepting a ban from entering the country for 20 years, the veteran finally walked free. He posed for a picture outside court with his McDonald's order with lawyer Jaba Kochlamazashvili and friends Brian Humphries and James Sawyer. 'I’m just glad to get out,' he said, wearing a black Triumph motorbike t-shirt. 'I’m amazed that everyone helped. I’ll make a formal statement as soon as possible.’ He then called his sister, Claire-Louise Rough, who has worked tirelessly to secure his freedom, telling her: 'I am eating a Big Mac now in the courtyard… Thank you for doing everything. Thank you for helping.' Former sergeant Matthew 'Des' Desmond, 49, (pictured) used his life savings to pay a £28,200 fine and legal fees of over £30,000 to secure his freedom He served as a paratrooper until he retired from the army in 2018  Ms Rough promised to get him 'the biggest steak I can find' and 'the driest possible white wine in the history of the world' for his return to Nottingham. Mr Desmond was escorted away by immigration authorities for deportation after he was found with 112 tablets of buprenorphine, 50 tablets of codeine, as well as 39 capsules of pregabalin, a psychotropic substance. He raised concerns with the court that some photos from his service in Iraq and Afghanistan have been lost by authorities along with other memorabilia and his jacket. Mr Sawyer, who has known Mr Desmond since he was 14, said he received 'incorrect' travel advice and it took eight days after Mr Desmond's arrest on April 23 for them to locate him. 'We did not know if he was still alive or where he was until the first of May,' he said. 'It was very hard, very frightful. It took us eight days to find out whether he was alive and where he was. 'It's a very, very long time to not know if someone is dead… that was one of the worst, worst moments. 'It's an awful amount of time for the family and his friends to not know if he's alive.' Only after they located him could they appoint counsel and send money for him to be able to make phone calls. 'Until he had that, he couldn't contact us,' Mr Sawyer said. He would use his one phone call a week to telephone his sister, Ms Rough. Mr Desmond is highly decorated and received the Meritorious Service Medal in the late Queen's 90th Birthday Honours. Mr Sawyer said he is 'an individual of high integrity' who 'values friendship, trust and loyalty'. His detainment has taken its toll on Mr Desmond's three adult children and physically without his medication the veteran can 'barely walk'. After stumping up £60,000 in costs, pleading guilty to importing narcotics, and accepting a ban from entering the country for 20 years, the veteran finally walked free  Desmond (third from left) served in 2PARA from 1995 until retiring in 2018, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan 'In those first few weeks where he didn't have access to medication, he will have been going through drug withdrawal, which will have been horrible in a prison where he couldn't speak to anybody because he didn't speak the language, and they didn't speak English. 'He would have been in horrific pain.' But the Iraq and Afghanistan veteran is 'mentally an extremely tough person' whose experiences 'have built that level of resilience', Mr Sawyer said. Incredibly he was able to watch England's World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina behind bars last night, and on entering court said to his friends: 'F*** Argentina.' Mr Desmond revealed the rest of the prison was supporting Lionel Messi's team so he had to muffle his celebrations when England went 1-0 up. Mr Sawyer expressed thanks to those who have donated to a GoFundMe which has already raised £5,000. 'The fact that people are willing to support veterans when often they aren't supported enough by society is something that I'm very grateful for,' he said. 'The fact that people are willing to believe in Matthew and help him rebuild his life, I think, is a sign of fantastic human nature.' Gldani Prison, where he was held, was listed as one of the worst prisons in the world after a video leaked in 2012 showing guards torturing, beating and sexually assaulting prisoners. However a report last year found it had improved and overcrowding was no longer an issue and there were no longer allegations of mistreatment or inter-prisoner violence.