Tommy Lowther
CEO of Sporting Force contradicting and misleading story's.
FEATUREDBLOATERSGOLDEN TURDSFORCES CHARITY SCAMMER
We thought this work from the 1LI lads, their personal experience and knowledge was too good not to share! Both of their exposures on Tommy Lowther are below.
Exposure 1 - Tommy Lowther has lied about his Military service when providing interviews about his time in the 1st Battalion the Light Infantry.
24/05/2023
I will keep this short and to the point. I along with many other serving and former members of the 1st Light Infantry are sick to the back teeth of hearing about the claims made by Tommy Lowther while he was serving in our Battalion.
All the evidence provided in this blog if of open source. What this means is that it is readily available on the internet via interviews voluntarily provided by Tommy Lowther and posted by the people he gave permission to post up as his distorted version of his truth.
From his first interview in 2015 right up to present day Tommy Lowther has claimed the incidence in NI and Gibraltar took place one after the other in that order. At no time during any interview, he gave were these two memorable incidences ever change in its order of occurrence.
Veteran Tommy Lowther tells his story, and how he has used it to help others. — YouTube
The Background.
Tommy Lowther runs a Charity called Sporting Force which he started up after applying for help via Help for Hero’s. I will leave the many concerns raised over the charity for others more qualified to look at more closely.
Tommy Lowther approached H4H and in July 2014 he was soon diagnosed with PTSD. This is according to several interviews he gave on the matter.
Contained in the interviews provided by Tommy Lowther it is claims he suffered PTSD after serving in IRAQ, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.
Before I go any further it is FACT Tommy Lowther had never served in Iraq. We can only assume this is an error on the reporter’s part, but not just one, but all of them who interviewed Tommy over the years who all must have miss heard him say Iraq by mistake and we can only assume Tommy never read the articles once published so he could not correct them.
Examples. (Please note on some of these links are comments from former members who know Tommy calling him out)
In the online article Tommy Lowther Claims he was diagnosed with PTSD, 18 months from the date of the article which is around June 2014.
The Northern Echo 3rd Nov 2015 written by Barnard Castle.
Veteran uses passion for football to help ex-soldiers adjust to civilian life | The Northern Echo (bingj.com)
These claims are repeated between 2015 to 2018.
31st August 2016 The Northern Echo written by Barnard Castle.
Veteran asked to replicate successful charity in US | The Northern Echo
31st August 2016 The Northern Echo written by Katie MacFarlane.
20th November 2016 Darlington and Stockton Times written by Lizzie Anderson.
23rd December 2017 The Northern Echo written by Flossie Mainwaring-Taylor.
Claims made by Tommy Lowther have infuriated and upset those he has accused of covering up alleged serious incidences which he alleges contributed to his diagnoses of PTSD which Tommy Lowther has used extensively in media interviews as the background behind his charity being set up.
Interviews provided to H4H and posted on their promotional web page.
Tommy Lowther | Help For Heroes
Tommy described how every day he would run on adrenalin and lived in relentless fear for his life. He faced a constant stream of petrol bombs, bottles, bricks and burning tyres being thrown.
One moment still lives with him vividly; the day he was set on fire.
“I was leaning against a crowd control obstacle with my armadillo shield and a petrol bomb came towards me. I was dowsed. I remember opening my eyes and seeing flames lick up underneath my visor. I got pulled into the crowd, stamped on, kicked and punched. It was terrifying, it felt like an eternity.
“At 18, it puts a lot of things into perspective. The hostility, that alone is frightening. I certainly had my eyes opened.”
Little did Tommy realise, his worst experience was still to come when he was sent on exercise in Gibraltar. Here, he suffered an event which had a devastating lasting effect; he was sexually assaulted.
“When it first happened, I was really, really embarrassed. I was disgusted in myself and didn’t want to tell anyone. That is when the PTSD wheels started moving.”
Tommy Lowther | Career Recovery — YouTube
7th October 2019 The Guardian written by Dan Sabbagh Defence and Security editor.
Thousands of military veterans ‘let down by medical discharge failures’ | Military | The Guardian|
Tommy Lowther, from Darlington, was abruptly discharged from the army in 2001 while he was on compassionate leave, after having been raped by three men, who were not soldiers, while he was in Gibraltar on military exercises.
“I went from being a confident young man bursting with pride to be in the armed forces to feeling broken,” Lowther said. “They didn’t believe me at first, and I had to undergo a medical examination. Even after that, people bullied me, were saying I brought it on.”
Lowther continued as a soldier but said he increasingly struggled — “I was drinking and getting involved in fights” — to the point where he was sent home on compassionate leave, where he thought he would be given time to recover.
“One day a letter came, and it said I was medically discharged. I was so young and impressionable that I took it as gospel; I hadn’t been diagnosed with PTSD or other mental health issues and tried to carry on as normal,” he told the Guardian.
Tommy Lowther and living with PTSD
Which premiered 6th December 2022 . recorded live to MQ open mind pod cast and written up by Juliette Burton.
https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/tommy-lowther-and-living-with-ptsd/?lang=en_us
(28) Tommy Lowther and Living With PTSD — MQ Open Mind — YouTube
Born in Dundee, Scotland, Tommy Lowther’s childhood dream was to become a soldier. In the 1990s, aged 18, he stood between protestants and Catholics in what he calls a “warzone” in Northern Ireland. He talks in this episode about the “invincible” mentality he felt in the military and how that attitude quickly turned into fear.
After Northern Ireland, Tommy was posted to Gibraltar. On one night out in a bar, he experienced an attack and sexual assault.
Open mind podcast
2021. Live recorded interview with Tommy Lowther to Rory Smith called “Your Story with Rory Smith”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgU_yRkY-lQ&feature=youtu.be
Interview given to the Veteran’s foundation by Tommy Lowther.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w7RS2WJW9U&feature=youtu.be
In every Interview Tommy Lowther makes the following claims
The incidence which caused his mental health injury, he claims took place in the following order:-
⦁ Northern Ireland. 2000.
⦁ Gibraltar. 2000.
Tommy Lowther claims he was discharged a few months after the incident in Gibraltar.
In these interviews he claims he was medically discharged after his alleged assault in Gibraltar.
In these interviews Tommy Lowther clearly states his Company Commander and Company Sargent Major failed to report the incident up the Battalion Chain of Command and that he was simply sent home on compassionate leave, where he makes further claims he was surprisingly discharged from the army while at home still on compassionate leave.
1st Battalion Light Infantry Deployments 1999 to 2001.
For this section I am going to simply state the facts of the Battalions deployments between these years.
The CO was Lt Col R R Smith
The 2 IC was Major G P Chambers
The Adjutants were Captain N P S Thornton, and Captain J A D De Labilliere MBE.
The RSMs were WO1 (RSM) P T Hill and WO1 (RSM) A A Wood.
This link is open to all to view
1LI.pdf (lightinfantry.co.uk)
⦁ EDINBURGH (DREGHORN BARRACKS) Apr 99 N
⦁ Ireland Jun 00 Dec 00
⦁ Sierra Leone Mar 01 Jun 01
A Company was one of the first to deploy in what was a six month rotational tour. What this means is that due to the Good Friday Agreement Northern Ireland peace process — Wikipedia the peace process initially progressed mostly trouble-free, so an entire Battalion deployment was not required so the companies would rotate within that six-month period. The remaining companies would be required to be on standby in the UK if the agreement broke and tensions escalated.
I will now state the facts of A Company’s deployments between these years.
As mentioned above A Company deployed to Northern Ireland June 2000.
A Company deployed to Gibraltar as a Company for four week detachment between March and April 2000 to relive the Royal Gibraltar Regiment of their duties so they could conduct training.
After Eight years of claiming the same tales of NI and how ‘much worse happened after NI’ during his deployment to Gibraltar, Tommy Lowther had this excuse.
25th March 2018 Teesdale Mercury(reporter unknown)
Dale sports charity agrees partnership with Spurs — Sport — Teesdale Mercury
Help For Heroes. (H4H)
H4H was originally set up in 2007 to exclusively help Veteran personnel and their families who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was set up to help those who had sustained injury and mental trauma.
After some negative press over its business activities and complaints from veterans who were turned away for not fitting the original criteria, H4H in around 2016 opened its doors to the wider forces community and extended help those from other operational theatres, including Northern Ireland.
‘As Help for Heroes grew and grew it just lost its focus’ comments TIM COLLINS | Daily Mail Online (dailymail.co.uk)
Help For Heroes being investigated amid claims that soldiers’ welfare at risk | Daily Mail Online (dailymail.co.uk)
In both online articles the Daily Mails reports its allege H4H staff used charity money to hound veterans and former employees into silence over alleged concerns over the financial handing of charity money.
While Tommy Lowther was promoting his then newly formed charity which registered as a charitable Company 03 October 2016. Governance, SPORTING FORCE LTD — 1169441, Register of Charities — The Charity Commission. He freely provided several interviews which were posted online.
In these interviews he clearly describes in candid detail some of the reasons for his PTSD, which Tommy Lowther claims was due to his relatively short time in the Armed Forces and in particular two striking events which took place in Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.
I have mentioned these in the order in which Tommy Lowther describes these incidences taking place and the timeline of events in which he repeatedly claimed they took place.
After only a few hours of the page being posted, Tommy Lowther contacted the page set up to expose veterans who lie about their career.
Where Lowther attempted to threaten and berate.
Picture of Tommy Lowther & members of A Company 1st LI taken on the Rock of Gibraltar March 2000.
Tommy Lowther Military Service.
Thomas Patrick Lowther enlisted on 04th August 1998 at Bishops Auckland enlisting with the Light Infantry at the Army Foundation Collage.
Tommy Lowther passed from phase two at ITC © and was posted in mid,1999 to Dreghorn Barracks (Edinburgh).
Tommy was first attached to the Battalion rear party while awaiting the Battalions return from its Cyprus tour in April 1999.
Tommy was discharged from the Army 13th March 2001.
Cause of leaving QR 1975 PARA 9,414C (1)- RELEASED FROM ARMY SERVICE.
Service on date of leaving. 2 years and 222 days.
The Confusion.
In every interview given by Tommy Lowther he claims his most serious incident took place after his Northern Ireland tour.
Tommy described clearly and repeatedly in these interviews how every day he would run on adrenalin and lived in relentless fear for his life. He faced a constant stream of petrol bombs, bottles, bricks and burning tires being thrown.
One moment still lives with him vividly; the day he was set on fire.
“I was leaning against a crowd control obstacle with my armadillo shield and a petrol bomb came towards me. I was dowsed. I remember opening my eyes and seeing flames lick up underneath my visor. I got pulled into the crowd, stamped on, kicked and punched. It was terrifying, it felt like an eternity.
“At 18, it puts a lot of things into perspective. The hostility, that alone is frightening. I certainly had my eyes opened.”
Little did Tommy realise, his worst experience was still to come when he was sent on exercise in Gibraltar. Here, he suffered an event which had a devastating lasting effect; he was sexually assaulted.
(28) Tommy Lowther and Living With PTSD — MQ Open Mind — YouTube
The main confusion for everyone who served in the same battalion is how Tommy Lowther told the press Gibraltar came after Northern Ireland, as no other company deployed to Gibraltar in 2000 or 2001 other than A Company which Tommy Lowther had joined and deployed with to Gibraltar in March and April 2000.
A Company deployed to Northern Ireland in June 2000 which was before the A Company 2000 March April Gibraltar exercise.
During the interview given by Tommy Lowthern to MQ and Rory Smith he claims the following:-
Tommy Lowther and Living With PTSD — MQ Open Mind — YouTube
8:41
so like I said so the the pedal bombs were coming over hitting these you know these containers and obviously you’ve
8:46
then gousting petrol and you were up in flames and then you know you’ve got and then
8:52
you’ve got sort of allocated men who are behind who are firemen who come and then you know with fire extinguishing and they put you out now you’re trained
8:58
you’re trained to just ignore the fact that you’re oblivious you know um and and again and I think now it’s it’s sort
9:06
of 18 year old it’s just yeah it was it was it was a lot to go through and again you know there’s some
9:11
18 year olds who have been through it and they come out and they were absolutely buzzing about it and you know investing the best thing they’ve ever
9:17
experienced um and it was an experience and it’s one that I’ll never forget
9:29
ahead then Tommy then so you came back from Northern Ireland back to north of
9:35
England and and then did you consent to continue to serve in the army or yes he
9:40
then moved into the Metropolitan Police as well no so um yes I continued I continued to serve um and then we went
9:47
out into um went up to we went up to Gibraltar um to go on to um an exercise out in
9:53
Gibraltar um I was on a I was on a night out with the with the lads and we were in the bar
9:59
um and my the labs are taught I said right look we’re going back I was talking to some
12:54
you tell anybody in in the aftermath no no definitely not them the problem.
13:01
no I didn’t I didn’t say anything not at first M and it was just something that.
13:06
so I was supposed to be on Parade the next day um for the um for the regimental photo of it for
13:12
the company photo um and I was I didn’t turn up um so I’ve got this photo now and
13:18
obviously I’m not on it but um the uh yeah I didn’t turn up and then
13:24
over the coming well certainly while we were out there um I just drank and drank and drank and
13:29
I was just drinking all the time I got back to got back to the UK and again I was just drinking and I was fighting and
14:10
did anybody notice anything or yeah well after a few months yeah it sort of got
14:39
the way that I’m absolutely you know that about the talk and stuff is absolutely right the only problem was in this scenario when I did talk it cost me
14:45
my career because when I um eventually under telling my superiors
14:53
um and it just yeah it it lost me my career basically um they didn’t know how to
14:59
deal with it they didn’t want to know how to deal with it they had no intentions of of trying to help with that it was easier just to get me out
15:06
the regiment now I was told that um they had to go see the medical officer
15:30
got I got a I was sort of back and forward to see the the commanders and you know and at
15:35
that point you know there was me the medical officer my regimental side no my company’s aren’t major
15:41
um and the um and the commanding officer who knew about it so there was only sort of the four of us
15:49
no psychological or mental health support at all no no um not not at that point not at that
15:56
point um I know them the
16:03
Curry um yeah the um no take take your time tonight no no I’m
16:08
fine let’s just say um I I’d always want it to be a soldier you know this is all I ever wanted from
16:15
being hmm for being so seven eight year old you know this was this was my dream this is what I always want to do
16:21
um and because of an act that was nothing to do with me it wasn’t my fault I was just you know
16:26
um I completely lost it all I lost I lost it all um and it
Further claims of officers allegedly lying to him and providing no support.
17:38
well actually sorry I’ll come back to that um when I was discharged um from the military I was told that the lads were
17:45
gunning for me um you know because because the the rumor was that I was gay
17:51
um because of what happened to me um and it wasn’t safe for me to
17:57
to return you know to return the military um and uh
18:02
so yeah So eventually I got it I got a letter through the post just saying you know from from the date that you received it’s like that you’re no longer
18:07
in the military um this this will be the discharge date so um
18:13
and that was that was the end of that you know that was kind of sort of the end of that really
To clarify.
Tommy Lowther clearly states in every interview he deployed to Gibraltar after returning from Northern Ireland.
Tommy Lowther clearly states he was sent home on Companionate leave after informing his Company Commander, Company Sargent Major and Battalion Medical Officer of his alleged incident in Gibraltar.
Tommy Lowther clearly states he was discharged while at home on Compassionate leave and clearly states the reason for being put on comp leave as he was told by his Company Commander, Company Sargent Major the blokes were after him because of the incident in Gibraltar. This alone is a serious breach of confidentiality if true.
Tommy Claims clearly clams he was seriously injured.
10:10
then i was flown back to [Music] yes i was it was at that point i was
10:16
flown back to the uk because i’d say my nose was like over here somewhere and you know like i had sort of black eyes and you
10:21
know where i’ve been sort of pulled into the crowd and stamped on um you know there’s like problems with your ribs and whatever else so i am so i
10:28
i got flown back to the uk and just to start going and get checked over properly at the hospital
10:34
um what are those checks is there any mental checks
10:40
not back then no not not not really back then you know it’s not i mean you know the the that’s that’s the idea
What do soldiers of the 1st Battalion Light Infantry who served at the time have to say?
Northern Ireland. June to Dec 2000.
I along with other members of the Battalion can say we never recalled seeing Tommy Lowther with A Company over the period July 2000 during the Drumcree marches or recall the incidents of him being set on fire and dragged into the crowd and sustaining the injury’s he claims to have received, they do not recall anyone being flown to hospital after sustaining such injury's.
In fact we recall Tommy Lowther having to stay behind in Dreghorn Barracks due to an incident which took place just before the Company deployed and which was pending an investigation by the Battalion, Police and Fire Brigade.
Gibraltar. March to April 2000.
I along with others can say is we never recalled hearing about Tommy Lowthers alleged incident, but this may be because the rest of the Company or Battalion never deployed to Gibraltar after the June to Dec 2000 Northern Ireland tour as soon after the NI tour and post leave the battalion soon set off for Sierra Leone from March 2001 until June 2001
Tommy Lowther clearly states several times Gibraltar took place after his Northern Ireland claims, and that he was sent home on compassionate leave and subsequently discharged soon after his Gibraltar incident. How can you get that so wrong!!!
To remind you.
Gibraltar March 00 Apr 00
Ireland Jun 00 Dec 00
Sierra Leone Mar 01 Jun 01
Tommy Lowther was discharged from the Army 13th March 2001
Something does not quite add up does it?
In Tommy Lowther timeline based on every interview he has given.
Passed basic training, went to battalion, deployed to NI, ended up injured at the Drumcree marches for which he was sent to hospital. (An incident you're not really going to forget)
After NI he deployed to Gibraltar where a much worse incident took place. (An incident you're not really going to forget)
After a few months he told his Chain of Command, and they sent him home on Compassionate leave after he told them about the Gib incident.
He was then Medically discharged while at home.
I will leave you with this famous quotes.
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters”
― Albert Einstein
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”
― Abraham Lincoln
In other words. Tommy Lowther has finally admitted he was not telling the truth for all those years while dining out on the same story from 2015 until 2023 when promoting himself and sporting force.
How on earth can anyone fall for that excuse after he was openly telling his version so many times to the press from 2015 right up to 2023, and to so many people, using the same sequence of events he claims unfolded after each poignant event as his reasons for setting up a charity.
He claims the events took place over 23 years ago which is his excuse for getting it all mixed up, yet he started telling this tale back in 2015 which was only 15 years from the events, and he tells it so vividly.
If you look at the links many ex serving from the LI was calling him out over his claims, yet he never once corrected himself or the media reports for over eight years from when he first told his story's.
Telling folk he got the two deployments mixed up is his only excuse that simply makes no sense as there are far too many inconstancies for that to be a plausible excuse considering the serious nature of his calms.
On the balance of probability's Tommy Lowther does not have a leg to stand on.
Tommy lowther and abuse of process
COMMENTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE REG
What a nice guy he is. We present Tommy Lowther CEO of Sporting Force.
Exposure 2 -Tommy Lowther CEO of Sporting Force contradicting and misleading story's.
02/07/2023
In this second look as Tommy Lowther of sporting Force Charity I have taken the liberty of focusing on versions of his story and what he now claims after his misleading claims have been pointed out to him.
This page is about the right to express opinion based on what is posted on the internet or expressed during interviews as fact which don’t quite add up to actual facts.
My opinion. I don’t believe someone could get two deployments in such a short space of time mixed up within only 2 years and 222 days service to be exact, where both deployments and alleged traumatic incidences were and still used as a backdrop behind a charity for over eight years.
The same sequence of events which have been told over and over again without correction or change until now.
Why is that?
No public statement to amend that correction which has now been admitted as being incorrect.
Why is that?
It’s my opinion that it's hard to admit to such an error as just a simple mix up and someone might have more to lose by being honest. IMHO!
To recap Tommy Lowther knowingly mislead people for eight years in regard to what he called two traumatic events in his life which in his own words he remembers vividly and shaped his exit from the army.
Tommy Lowther goes into great detail about both events, not once but several times over an eight-year period.
Northern Ireland, Burnt, Broken nose and cheek bone.
Its not the first time his cheekbone got broken
But has since changed his story after Officers, SNCO to Private soldiers all have a very different memory of Tommy Lowther.
Tommy Lowther was contacted in March about his claims which members of the 1st Battalion the Light infantry dispute as being untrue and not a true reflection of events.
So, from claiming in press reports and live blogs to having had his cheekbone and nose broken, face burnt and being repatriated back to the, UK for hospital treatment to nothing really and went back with battalion. So which one was it Tommy and will you set the record with all who believed you first version when promoting yourself?
What has become evident is Tommy Lowther is very good at mixing a small grain of truth with fantasy.
The Back Peddling Begins.
Once questions were put to Tommy Lowther his memory started to get hazy and claimed he could not remember exact dates or even the company he was with which is odd when you read all his interviews retelling his story for some many years.
One specific question was raised with him about his allegations he was sexually assaulted in Gibraltar after his deployment to Northan Irland.
All who served there over a four-week period was a major bone of contention.
However, after eight years of telling the same story when promoting his Sporting Force charity, Tommy Lowther has back tracked massively and claimed he just got it the wrong way round which does not add up considering he was asked repeatedly about the timeline from his discharge.
Tommy Lowther even makes reference to his notes of the events which he claimed to have looked through.
The big question again is why have Sporting Force not issue a statement highlighting Tommy Lowthers error as this story has been the main thrust of his Charity promotion for years. We all deserve a full official explanation from Sporting Force as the CEOS explanation is not credible.
Tommy Lowther claimed to the press he was Medically discharged from the Army
Once again only after he was challenged did Tommy Lowther Change his story which he had been telling for eight years.
He now claims he was told by Help for Heroes he could claim he was medically discharged because he stuck in a claim years after being admin discharged. Again, this new story does not stack up to what he was telling people in the past.
The facts are Tommy Lowther was never officially medically discharged as he clearly claimed to the press, that he was given a medical discharge while on compassionate leave. This was simply untrue, and he knew it.
Again, why have Sporting Force not issue any statements highlighting Tommy Lowthers error as this story has been the main thrust of his Charity promotion for years. The doners deserve an explanation as well as orginisations which have established links with the charity. .
Iraq
Another issue raised is the claim made by the press during media interviews of Tommy Lowther having served in Iraq.
It is my opinion and others that Tommy Lowther first claimed to Help For Heroes that he had served in Iraq so he could qualify for help.
At the time Help for Heroes would only help veterans who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Charity has since broadened its mandate to help all veterans. It is my opinion Tommy Lowther was “PLAYING THE SYSTEM”
It is the opinion of most who have spoken out that Tommy Lowther used these stories to gain sympathy and momentum for a charity he set up called Sporting Force and thus has mislead people into giving charity based on his backstory. Tommy thought he could get away with it.
Tommy Lowther claims he's never made out he was bullied by soldiers in his regiment. However,
There is more. but for now a tease for what's to come.
The verdict from Seaton Carew? Worse things happen at sea… | The Northern Echo
Lowthers explanation…..He was miss qouted….. Five times in total over a period of five years.
Update 17th Oct 2023 - Pleaded Guilty
Update 25th October 2023 - Sentencing
After pleading guilty, Tommy Lowther received £200 fine and a record for assaulting his own sister...
Below is what he pled Guilty to.
We think its definitely time to talk now... Don't you Sporting Force and Enigma holdings?
There's only so much sand one can bury around ones head.
The injuries below, that his sister sustained that evening that were just 'an eye injury' as the paper claimed...
Further update October 27th 2023
Public victim statement with lots of new information to come.
Update 16/12/2023
