Simon Mann, mercenary behind failed ‘wonga coup’, dies aged 72

Former SAS officer led a group of 70 who attempted to overthrow Equatorial Guinea's president

Simon Mann, an Eton and Sandhurst-educated ex-SAS officer, who led a botched coup involving Margaret Thatcher's son to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, has died.

Mann, who was 72, led a group of 70 fellow mercenaries who were arrested in Zimbabwe in 2004 for attempting to topple Equatorial Guinea's despotic president, Teodoro Obiang.