A soldier who went absent without leave (awol) rather than serve a second tour in Afghanistan has been jailed for nine months.

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, who was also reduced to the ranks, was sentenced at a military court in Colchester, Essex, after admitting the awol charge.

The court martial hearing was told that Glenton, who later campaigned against the conflict, was discovered to be absent on June 11, 2007, when he was due to return to Dalton Barracks in Abingdon.

He was absent for 737 days before handing himself in, prosecutor Group Captain Tim Backer said.

He said that the 27-year-old had performed a seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2006 serving with the Royal Logistic Corps.

When Glenton returned he was ordered to go back to the conflict zone after nine months even though military guidelines suggest soldiers should not be deployed again within 18 months.

Mitigating, Nick Wrack, told the court that when Glenton raised concerns about going back he suffered bullying. He said Glenton had suffered from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after his first stint in the war zone.

"When he first raised with his staff sergeant his reluctance to be deployed again, instead of being dealt with in a sensible way it resulted in the sergeant at the time bullying and intimidating Lance Corporal Glenton," said Mr Wrack.

"He was called a coward and a malingerer.

"When this information was brought to his commanding officer, the sergeant was spoken to, but this reinforced the bullying."