A TROUBLED ex-soldier says he feels let down by the lack of support he received from the Army after his best friend died in his arms.

John Ashmore spoke out after avoiding being jail at Colchester Magistrates’ Court for assaulting a pizza delivery man because he wouldn’t accept a cheque.

Ashmore, 20, of Berechurch Road, Colchester, whose chequered past includes previous convictions for affray and carrying a knife, was sentenced to a 12-month community order and told to complete 80 hours unpaid work for the assault on Sonny Brown on March 24.

The court heard it was an unprovoked attack. Ashmore became annoyed when the delivery man arrived with food, but said it could not be paid for by cheque. Following an altercation between the two, the delivery man fell to the ground on to his face.

Ashmore was ordered to pay £85 costs and £100 compensation to Mr Brown, but said his actions stemmed from watching his friend die in his arms following a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan in June 2008.

The former tank transporter with the Royal Logistic Corps said he had felt responsible, as moments before the blast, he had switched places with his friend in a convoy.

He said: “I tried to help him and gave him shots of morphine. I didn’t care about the Taleban firing at me. I just wanted to help him.”

He said, as a result of his friend’s death, he became depressed, but found there was little support from his employers.

Ashmore said: “I had been suffering a lot, but it wasn’t diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder for eight months.

“There wasn’t any support for me. My parents and my family were my only support.”

He ended up going absent without leave before being caught and sentenced to six months at Colchester’s Military Corrective Training Centre, in Berechurch Hall Road. He served four months in jail and was discharged from the Army on medical grounds.

He said he believed there needed to be more support for serving soldiers.

He added: “Anybody returning from tour should have a psychiatric evaluation.

“If that had been available to me early on, I could have gone back and I would still be in the Army now. I joined the Army because I wanted to make my parents and my grandad proud.” He said he was now making efforts to turn his life around and had moved house and found work with a building firm.

A Military of Defence spokesman said: “We have made great progress in the treatment of mental health problems and in reducing the stigma associated with seeking help.

“Our new scheme Trauma Risk Management teaches troops to spot any signs of distress in their colleagues and encourages them to talk about concerns.”