Soldier who deserted army by spending two years in Malawi is jailed

A soldier has been jailed after he deserted the Army for two years, claiming he was 'depressed' when in fact he didn't like his job in the prestigious regiment.

Private Davy Jambo, 34, ditched his post in the Household Cavalry for 27 months because he didn't like the job and felt 'unhappy'.

He insisted he was 'depressed' while serving in the regiment and claimed the Army forced his two-year absence which he spent in his home country of Malawi, Africa.

However military doctors told a court Pte Jambo didn't have any mental or health problems and that he in fact hated the job and didn't want to wait three months to follow the formal discharge process. 

Now the 34-year-old has been handed a nine-month jail sentence for the rare charge of desertion.

Pte Jambo denied the charge at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, but was convicted by a board of officers following a two-day trial.

To be formally discharged, Pte Jambo should have gone through a process to establish that he was 'Temperamentally Unsuitable' for the job. 

This would establish that he hadn't been able to adapt to military life.

But instead of going through formal procedure, he fled to Malawi and didn't return to Britain for over two years.

Opening the trial, prosecutor Major Richard Fowler said he was 'intentionally absent without leave and intended to remain absent' from February 7, 2022, until May 15, 2024.

He told the court that Pte Jambo, who was based at Bulford, was 'unhappy at work' from November 2021.

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Soldier 'deserted British army for two years and went home to Malawi saying he was depressed'

Maj Fowler said: 'He told his chain of command he was depressed and couldn't return to work, he felt better at home in Malawi.

'He decided in February 2022 he couldn't return to work in the state he was in.'

Two military doctors assessed Pte Jambo and said he did not have depression, the court heard.

Major Simon Foster, a registered GP, told the court he assessed Pte Jambo in January 2022 and did not detect any mental health issues.

Giving evidence, Maj Foster said: 'In summary, he said that he had been home to Malawi and had felt very happy when he had been to Malawi, and having returned to work, he realised he was unhappy at work.'

Pte Jambo, who did his basic training in 2020, had gone back to Malawi in October 2021 for his mother's memorial service after she died the year before.

He realised on his return he was not happy in his job and wanted to leave, he told the court.

Maj Foster added: 'I think there were concerns that he might have a mental health problem, but my assessment was that he didn't and we were going to pursue the Temperamentally Unsuitable route for him to be released from the military.'

Giving evidence Pte Jambo told the court: 'Unfortunately, the chain of command said I would have to go back to work, put back in that environment where I wasn't feeling well.

'To them, their reference was focusing on clinical depression. I'm sure in mental health there's a lot of other things, it's a broad area.

'I know how I was feeling, that's not how I normally feel.

'They said there wasn't a clinical depression, I feel there was some kind of problem because I was depressed, I was stressed.'

He also claimed someone in the chain of command told him he could lie and say he had taken drugs in order to avoid a more lengthy process to be discharged.

He said that he did not want to take the dishonourable route when it came to being discharged.

Barrister Bob Scott, defending, told the court that Pte Jambo obtained a Bachelor of Sciences degree at the University of Malawi, followed by a Masters degree in law from Nottingham Trent University.

Pte Jambo told Maj Fowler that he wants to do a PhD in the UK in the future, but denied that this was his reason for his return to the UK and him wanting to settle this matter now.

Pte Jambo said he ran a business while in Malawi, where he lived with his father.

Before deciding to leave the Army, he had been offered a business apprenticeship role in the Household Cavalry which he was significantly overqualified for, and had wanted to join the RAF instead of continuing to work for the Army.

According to the British Army website, soldiers in The Household Cavalry are armoured reconnaissance experts, but also specialise in information activity and sniping among other capabilities.