A CHIPPING Norton cameraman arrested in Russia has this morning boarded a plane to return to the UK.
Phil Ball, aged 42, was one of 30 detained on September after Russian troops boarded their ship, the Arctic Sunrise.
The soldiers came on board after four Greenpeace members tried to board a Russian oil platform to protest about drilling in the Arctic.
Now the father-of-three, who had been facing charges of hooliganism, has had the charges against him dropped and departed St Petersburg at around 7.30am this morning.
The Duma, the Russian Parliament, had earlier this month passed an amnesty for defendants charged with hooliganism.
He had been in Russia since the protest in September, and had been in prison until the recent amnesty.
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