He was arrested in Iraq in May 2010 after confiding in Adrian Lamo, a hacker he met online, who turned him in to the FBI. “[Manning] was a determined soldier with a knowledge, ability, and desire to harm the United States in its war effort,” said Maj Ashden Fein, for the prosecution. “He was not a whistle-blower; he was a traitor.” Manning’s defence team argued that the soldier, who was 22 at the time of the leaks, was “young, naive, but good-intentioned”. They said he was deeply disturbed by what he saw in Iraq.