13,000 Back Petition For Jailed Dad Stephen Armstrong

Feb 24 2008 Exclusive by Grace Macaskill

A SHATTERED father-of-eight jailed for tackling the gang who threatened his family says he is "blown away" after an incredible 13,000 Scots signed an online petition calling for his freedom.

Last week we revealed how ordinary dad Stephen Armstrong was jailed for four years for hitting back against a knife-wielding yob terrorising his quiet cul de sac.

Speaking from Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow, Stephen, 47, said he deserved to be punished for his vigilante action - but did not deserve jail.

The former publican was sent to prison for knocking down a 22-year-old attacker who had threatened him with a knife and was trying to smash his windscreen with a baton.

The hooded hooligan, who was already electronically tagged, was part of a gang terrorising Stephen's quiet cul-de-sac, Waukglen Gardens in Southpark Village, Glasgow.

Residents had complained to police about the mob 39 times in four months.

Stephen said: "I can't believe so many people are supporting me. I'm blown away. It makes me feel my family are not alone."

As his lawyers launched an appeal, he revealed how much he misses his wife Dot, 39, and his kids.

He said: "I missmy family every day. I miss them most at night when the cell door shuts. That's the time when I should be at home with my wife Dot with the kids tucked up safe in bed.

"It's the time when me and my Dot just talk for hours, all night sometimes, and laugh together. It's so hard. I've never been separated from Dot or the kids for any length of time before."

On Monday, Chloe spent her eighth birthday in tears, separated from the dad who calls her "little princess".

Dot suffers from arthritis and eight years ago Stephen quit work to look after Stephen Jnr, 17, Sean, 15, Christopher, 14, Ryan, 12, Ciaran, 11, Chloe, and four-year-old twins Emma and Connor. Stephen admitted: "I was wrong to take the law into my own hands but I don't belong in prison. I wasn't thinking rationally and I think anyone would have done the same thing in my situation.

"This guy wanted to kill me. He came to my door armed to the teeth with a big knife and an extendable baton with the deliberate intention to harm me and my family.

"I felt in danger for my life. This guy kept saying he would stab me unless I went around the corner with him and he threatened to do it in front of my family, who were frantic by this time.

"I now realise he was trying to lure me to an area where there were no witnesses and started attacking my van."

Stephen added: "Both prison officers and fellow prisoners say I shouldn't be here. The only person who thinks I should be here is the judge.

"I was told by lawyers I had a 50/50 chance of going to jail so I was prepared but I was shocked by how long I was given. I thought I would have got a year at the very most.

"What I did was wrong but to me the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

"Prison has not been as bad as I thought. I never thought I would have anything in common with the other prisoners but there are lots of people in here who have simply made mistakes."

Stephen relies on nightly phone calls and letters to keep him sane.

He said: "I'm coping just fine. I have a routine in here so it's much harder for Dot and the kids on the outside than it is for me. Letters and calls help but it's not the same as being close. What I miss most is cuddling and touching them.

"Even though I'm in here, I consider myself the luckiest man on earth to have even met Dorothy and have eight healthy, lovely children. And I know I'm going home to them eventually."

The family's MSP Johann Lamont, who plans to meet them, said: "If he snapped because he'd been through enough, then what led up to that? At what point do people think the police can no longer help and they have to do something to help themselves?

"I cannot understand why a community sentence was not deemed appropriate for this man."

A Scottish Government spokesman would not comment directly on the case.

He added: "There are many things we need to do to make our communities safer and stronger but the rule of law must be at the heart of that approach."