Simon Mann was a British former Army officer and mercenary, born in Aldershot in 1952, who served in the Scots Guards and the SAS before moving into private military work in Africa. He co-founded the private military company Sandline International, and in 2004 he was arrested in Zimbabwe over a failed plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, later known as the Wonga Coup. He was sentenced to more than 34 years in Equatorial Guinea and was pardoned on humanitarian grounds in 2009. He told the story in his memoir Cry Havoc and died in London in 2025.
Brian Rose interviewed Mann twice on London Real, in 2017 and 2019. He talked about Eton and the Army, Northern Ireland, mercenary work in Angola and Sierra Leone, the ethics of private military companies, the coup plot and his time in Black Beach prison.
Both interviews are listed below with a short summary.
Inside The Mind Of A Mercenary (2019). The most complete account of his life, from Eton and the SAS to Black Beach prison.
Mann described how his training in the Scots Guards and the SAS, and his service in Northern Ireland, shaped his understanding of conflict and terrorism before he left the Army for private military work.
He gave an insider’s view of private military companies, including Executive Outcomes and Sandline, and the debate over whether governments should hire private forces. He also discussed controversies involving other contractors such as Blackwater in Iraq.
Mann talked about his involvement in the wars in Angola and Sierra Leone in the 1990s, where private forces were hired to protect oil installations and mines.
In both interviews he described the failed 2004 plot in Equatorial Guinea, his trial and sentence, and the mental strain of life in Black Beach prison before his pardon in 2009.
Simon Mann was a British former Army officer and mercenary, born in 1952, who served in the Scots Guards and the SAS. He co-founded Sandline International and was imprisoned for his part in a failed 2004 coup plot in Equatorial Guinea. He died in 2025.
In two interviews in 2017 and 2019, Mann talked about his Army career, mercenary work in Angola and Sierra Leone, private military companies, the 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup plot and his years in prison.
Start with Inside The Mind Of A Mercenary from 2019, the most complete account of his life and career.
Twice, in August 2017 and August 2019. A short Success Secrets clip comes from the 2019 interview.
The Wonga Coup was a failed 2004 plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. Mann was arrested in Zimbabwe with a group of men, served time there, and was then sentenced in Equatorial Guinea in 2008 to more than 34 years in prison.
Yes. He was pardoned by the president of Equatorial Guinea on humanitarian grounds in November 2009 and returned to Britain, as he describes on London Real.
Cry Havoc, published in 2011, is Simon Mann’s memoir of the Equatorial Guinea coup plot, his arrest and his time in prison in Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea.
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