A FORMER Royal Marine serving a life sentence for murdering a wounded Afghan captive faces the "real possibility" of having his conviction quashed following the presentation of new evidence, an independent review has found.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has confirmed it is referring the conviction of Sergeant Alexander Blackman, also known as Marine A, to the Courts Martial Appeal Court.

Blackman was found guilty of murder at a Court Martial at the Military Court Centre, Bulford, Wiltshire, in 2013.

Blackman, who grew up in Brighton, unsuccessfully challenged the outcome in the Court Martial Appeal Court, however his minimum sentence was reduced to eight years.

Supporters have called the conviction a gross miscarriage of justice with Blackman claiming he believed the man was already dead.

A year ago hundreds of veterans gathered outside Parliament yesterday to call for the retrial of a Royal Marine convicted of murdering a Taliban fighter.

And now the presentation of new evidence relating to Blackman's mental health at the time of the death in Helmand - and the fact that an alternative verdict of unlawful act manslaughter was not available during the trial - means the case will return to the court.

The decision marks the latest step in the fight by Blackman's wife, Claire, to clear her husband's name.

David James Smith, lead CCRC commissioner on the case, said: "We have scrutinised this murder conviction in minute detail and after a thorough investigation we have concluded that there are new issues - principally relating to Mr Blackman's state of mind at the time of the shooting - which in our view raise a real possibility that an appeal against conviction would now succeed.

"On that basis we are sending the case back to the Courts Martial Appeal Court so that a fresh appeal can be heard."