SAS legend let out of jail early. Wait, what?

This is really quite astounding.

SAS hero Albert 'Pat' Patterson was jailed for 15 months in April over his Falklands war trophy pistol.

The Argentine weapon — along with 177 rounds of ammo, four Enfield pistols and a rifle component — had been kept safely in the basement of Pat's Hereford home for over 30 years until discovered in 2014.

The tough sentence sparked outrage and within days The Sun had launched a Change.org online petition demanding his release.

Former top brass, fellow ex-SAS heroes and Sun readers joined the fight.

Our petition was signed by more than 161,000 people by the end of April and delivered to 10 Downing Street by Pat's daughter Cheri, 25.

Top barrister Peter Glenser and solicitor Issy Hogg put in hours of their own time and took Pat's case to the Court of Appeal, but it was rejected, despite the court admitting he had "no criminal purpose".

The pressure paid off and he has been released at the earliest opportunity after just four months – three months before his expected parole date.

Gun control, working as intended.

The Phantom