A VETERANS charity is to help a jailed former soldier from Burnley who was left with brain injuries after seeing two friends die during a roadside bombing.

Ex-Duke of Lancaster’s soldier Ashley Clark was given a 21-month sentence, later reduced to 16 months, after it was said he failed to adequately seek help for his difficulties.

Clark had been given a deferred sentence by Judge Andrew Woolman last December after admitting to racially abusing a taxi driver and calling him a terrorist.

By the time he returned to the dock last week he had been involved in an attack on another taxi driver.

He had also been the subject of a suspended sentence for carrying out a burglary on his aunt and uncle’s home.

Tony Hayes, from the Veterans Association UK, said his organisation were anxious to ensure the 23-year-old received proper assistance for his problems and his appeal.

Mr Hayes said: “We deal with cases like this all the time and we have got access to more than 200 psychiatrists and psychologists. If he had been referred to us then we could have ensured that he received the appropriate support. I feel that he has been let down by the system.”

Clark, pictured, a web designer, was medically discharged from the Army.

In 2010, he saw two of his comrades die in a roadside bombing, which left him with significant injuries.