THE retired Latin teacher taking on the might of Trident is now fighting for his pension funds, it has emerged.

Brian Quail, 79, was held in HMP Low Moss for a fortnight after an anti-nuclear protest near HM Naval Base Clyde.

He was amongst five people arrested over a blockade of the road near the Coulport nuclear warhead site on Loch Long as part of a “week of disruption” organised by Trident Ploughshares, and was remanded in custody after refusing to accept a bail condition banning him from going within 100m of the base.

The move sparked an outcry and Quail was released pending trial after comic writer Mark Millar, a former pupil, intervened to pay his legal costs.

Now Quail is seeking help from Glasgow North MP Patrick Grady after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) withheld part of his pension.

The funds were held back due to an official policy which states that no payments will be made for the duration that any pension recipient spends in custody, either before or after being found guilty.

Government rules state that any arrears will be paid back to anyone found not guilty.

However, Quail faces a wait of several weeks before his trial will be held, and says the pension problem means he has effectively been punished twice before a ruling has been made.

He told The National: “I have been punished by having a period of time in jail and they are giving me an additional punishment by taking money off me.”

Quail noticed the sum was missing from his August 1 payment.

A letter sent by the DWP on September 7 tells him that the cash has been docked for the period covering July 17-30, adding: “This is because you have been in prison from 12 July 2017 to 26 July 2017.”

It also invites him to get in touch “if you think the decision is wrong”, adding that he has the right to appeal after officials have had the chance to reconsider the case.

However, Grady has called on officials to review the situation now.

He told The National: “Like any citizen, Brian Quail is innocent until proven otherwise, and he should not be punished by the UK Government before his trial has even taken place.

“I am making urgent representations to the DWP on his behalf, asking them to review this decision and pay him the pension that he is due.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “The state pension is not paid, it is suspended if someone is imprisoned on remand following being sentenced for a criminal offence or whilst on remand pending trial and sentence.

“If nothing comes of it, the suspension is lifted, arrears paid and the state pension is put back into payment.”

Quail’s case is scheduled to come to trial at Dumbarton Justice of the Peace Court in October.

He was arrested along with 66-year-old Angie Zelter, from Wales, who also spent time on remand after refusing to adhere to the bail condition of not going within 100m of Coulport or the Faslane nuclear weapons base.

However, the three others arrested were granted bail after agreeing to this.

They include 29-year-old Sam Donaldson, from Hull, Almudena Izquierdo Olmo, from Madrid, and Juan Carlos Navarro Diaz, 46, from the Canary Islands.

Supporting his former teacher in July, Kick-Ass creator Millar, who attended St Ambrose High School in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, said: “Even as kids we knew he was a guy of tremendous convictions. I remember his class being filled top to bottom with anti-war posters and he gave me the first CND badge I ever pinned to my school blazer.”

The writer, who this summer sold his Millarworld company to Netflix for an undisclosed sum, went on: “He was blisteringly intelligent and I’ve enjoyed seeing his continued resistance in the papers over the years.

“Hearing that he’s been locked up in a Scottish prison now, at the age of 79 and not in great health, is monstrous.

“This is a peace protester who’s dedicated his life to non-violent protest sent to prison for representing the vast majority of Scots who are firmly against Trident.

“Had this happened in North Korea we’d be up in arms about it.”