THOUSANDS of people are backing a petition to have the Trident whistleblower William McNeilly pardoned.

As reported in our sister paper the Sunday Herald, Mr McNeilly raised concerns about security lapses and safety issues on Trident submarines before going into hiding.

The 25-year-old from Belfast this week turned himself into the police and now almost 5,000 people have signed a petition to pardon him.

The petition, started by the Scottish CND group on change.org, reads: "We support the Trident whistleblower, William McNeilly.

"He should be commended for exposing the poor safety standards on nuclear submarines and not persecuted.

"The only way to remove this danger is to scrap Trident."

See the petition here