The mother of a British soldier who killed himself after becoming a victim of a squaddie’s “insidious” payday loan scheme has warned others not to join the military.
Alison Blackwell said her son, Rifleman Nathan Worner, was “pushed to breaking point” before his suicide at his barracks in May 2020.
The 20-year-old had borrowed almost £3,000 from former Rifleman Ryan Saedi, who ran a “double bubble” scheme which required borrowers to pay back twice the amount they had been lent by him.
Saedi demanded interest payments from Rfn Worner shortly before his death and threatened to visit his family home if the debt was not settled.
Saedi was one of four soldiers who was jailed last week for a total of 13 years and three months having sold almost £100,000 of cocaine to fellow Army personnel at Bulford Barracks, Wiltshire.
The disgraced soldier was sentenced to three years and four months in jail for his “significant role” in the conspiracy.
However, Mrs Blackwell, from Bristol, has now criticised the sentence, which included just two months for running the payday loan scheme which the judge described as “insidious”.
Rfn Worner – the youngest of four – had been suffering from depression before his death but his mother is convinced the pressure placed upon him to repay the interest on the loan contributed to his decision to take his own life.
Speaking after the court case, she said: “When we lost Nathan we couldn’t believe what had happened. We knew he had been depressed and stuff had been going on but we didn’t know what.
“When he died, we had his bank statements and that’s when I realised something dark was going on.”
Mrs Blackwell, 52, said her son had paid back “every penny” he had borrowed, but owed Saedi the same again thanks to the extortionately high interest rate.
Claudius Scott, 31, ran the operation in which the cocaine was brought into the soldiers’ base from west London. The scheme’s second-in-command, Saedi, also 31, operated alongside “trusted dealers” Lance Corporal Bradley Hesketh, 27, and Rifleman Ashleigh Walker. The court was told one gram of cocaine would sell for £90, with a dealer taking a £10 cut.
Scott and Saedi earned more than £40,000 each from their crimes. They have both left the Army.
Mrs Blackwell said seeing the four defendants in court was “horrible”, adding that police uncovered machetes at their homes showing how her son had been tormented by criminals.
At the sentencing at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, it was heard Saedi had received £43,000 worth of payments while running his loan scheme where he often held passports as a security deposit.
In a text to his brother, Saedi said of those who struggled to pay him back: “These men are giving me sob stories – their cat died, they got to pay for a funeral – I don’t give two f—-.”
Saedi admitted conduct prejudicial to good order in relation to his loaning scheme.
Referring to the two-month sentence given to Saedi for the money lending, Mrs Blackwell added: “When I realised they gave him months for the money lending, it was a bit of a shock.
“I think it should have been treated harsher than that.
“I don’t think that others will be deterred if you are just going to get two months.
“Any kind of loan with high interest, you need to be aware of what lengths people will go to when they are that frightened of them.”
She warned other parents with children in similar cases to be vigilant of their moods.
“I think just to watch the signs of changes in personality and stress,” she added. “Just don’t join the Army and make sure they know to go and get help.”
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