By CARROLL du CHATEAU
It was his day, but the former SAS commando "Mike Coburn" was not in court to hear the news of his victory over Whitehall.
He is in North Africa doing the sort of work he used to do for the elite British defence force - on a "security" job with former SAS colleagues.
After being told of Justice Peter Salmon's ruling in his favour, he said he felt justified and, in a way, really sad.
"It should never have come to this ... I think the court case has done so much more damage [to the Ministry of Defence] than the book could ever have done."
In Auckland, it was left to his wife, Sue, and lawyer Warren Templeton to celebrate.
"This is a victory for freedom of speech," Mr Templeton said.
"The decision is unique. It finds the order to sign the contract was unlawful, that it was signed under duress and under undue influence in the context of a military background. There could be significant international legal repercussions in relation to other contacts from this." "We get to keep our house," said Sue Coburn, alluding to the charge legal aid had taken over it.
"It's been two years of stress - day-in, day-out, sitting constantly on your shoulder."
Mr Coburn said the judgment was a great relief "for the families of the other guys who we were trying to help out as well."
According to Mr Coburn and the other two surviving members of the Bravo Two Zero patrol, the two earlier books, Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab and The One That Got Away by Chris Ryan, fictionalised the mission and turned his dead comrades, especially Vince Phillips, into scapegoats for what went wrong. Soldier 5 is his bid to to set the record straight.
If the MoD does not appeal, proceeds from Mr Coburn's book will be split with the families of those who died, other members of the patrol (excluding Ryan and McNab, who have made millions from their best-sellers) and the New Zealand SAS, where Mr Coburn started his career.
The silken-voiced, handsome "Mal," another member of the Bravo Two Zero patrol, who flew to Auckland to give evidence, is also triumphant, but is dismayed that this legal exercise went as wrong as the original Bravo Two Zero mission.
Speaking from London, he said: "Much more damaging information [about MoD methods] came out in the trial.
"They tried to bully Mike into submission. Probably they thought he'd give up and we'd all scamper away."
It is estimated that the MoD spent around $1.5 million on its case. Now, with the judge awarding costs to the defendant, Her Majesty will be obliged to meet another $80,000-odd for New Zealand legal aid expenses.
So when can we expect copies of Soldier 5 to hit the bookshelves? Possibly in the New Year, says Mr Templeton who has given an undertaking not to publish in the next 14 days.
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