Marine A not ‘cold blooded killer’

Brighton-born Royal Marine Alexander Blackman had his conviction for murder quashed yesterday.

When Sgt Blackman, who grew up in Bevendean and went to Patcham High School, fatally shot an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan he was suffering from an “abnormality of mental functioning”, an appeal court ruled.

As five judges reduced his murder conviction to manslaughter, they found that the 2011 incident was not a “cold-blooded execution” as a court martial had earlier concluded but the result of a mental illness, an “adjustment disorder”.

Sgt Blackman, 42, had his murder conviction overturned by the Court Martial Appeal Court in London and replaced with a verdict of “manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility”.

Speaking exclusively to The Argus following the ruling, Sgt Blackman’s nephew Mike Blackman said: “We hope it’s the end of it all soon.

“It’s nice to finally get to this point now after so long and we couldn’t have done it without the support of everyone. “

“It’s some justice for him but he will never get his career and those years back.

“We very much want to see him freed to come home now. The sooner the better.”

There will now be a further hearing to decide the sentence Sgt Blackman now has to serve – having been in custody since November 2013.

Blackman’s wife Claire said she was “delighted”, adding: “This is a crucial decision and one which better reflects the circumstances my husband found himself in during that terrible tour in Afghanistan.”

The judges said Blackman had been “an exemplary soldier before his deployment to Afghanistan in March 2011” but had “suffered from quite exceptional stressors” during his deployment.

In reaching their decision judges said the “key issue” was whether it was a “cold-blooded execution” as the court martial board concluded on the evidence before them or whether it was the result of “a substantial impairment of his ability to form a rational judgement or exercise self-control arising from his adjustment disorder”.

They ruled: “There can be little doubt that on 15 September 2011, the appellant was angry and vengeful and had a considerable degree of hatred for the wounded insurgent.

“In our judgement the adjustment disorder from which he was suffering at the time also impaired his ability to exercise self-control.”

They concluded: “Given his prior exemplary conduct, we have concluded that it was the combination of the stressors, the other matters to which we have referred and his adjustment disorder that substantially impaired his ability to form a rational judgment.”

Blackman’s comrades last night spoke of their support of his actions in a documentary.

BIG AL, EXEMPLARY SOLDIER HAUNTED BY GRIEF AND WAR

FOR 15 years, Sergeant Alexander Blackman served with distinction before being dismissed in disgrace and jailed for life.

At the home where he grew up in Bevendean, his mother Frances has been praying for justice for three years since he was sentenced.

Her neighbours remember the little boy who grew up to be known as Big Al by his family, friends and colleagues.

Widow Mrs Blackman has been waiting for her son to come home – a prospect yesterday’s decision finally brings closer.

Every night since he was jailed she has switched on the angel light sitting on her window sill in honour of her son.

She waits by the phone for his weekly call and has never lost faith, repeatedly saying how his family has remained proud of him.

The keen sportsman worked on a dairy farm after leaving school before joining the Royal Marines in 1998, aged 23.

He was first deployed to the Gulf War in 2003, before returning to Iraq then serving in Afghanistan.

After returning to the Commando Training Centre in Lympstone, Devon, he married Claire in 2009.

He was drafted to 42 Commando (J Company) for deployment to Afghanistan and promoted to Acting Colour Sergeant.

But shortly before his return to Afghanistan and the incident that changed his family’s lives for ever, his beloved father Brian who had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease died.

Blackman had been stuck in traffic and unable to make it to his father’s bedside to be with him when he died in January 2011.

Mrs Blackman has remained convinced her son was still wracked with grief – as well as haunted by the horrors of war – when he deployed that March During his trial he said the stress began to build, describing the effects of the deaths of his troop commander and a fellow Marine in a bomb blast on the tour.

Two others also suffered life-changing injuries.

He said the body parts of the victims were found in trees around the area.

“It’s not a nice thing for the lads,” Blackman told the court martial.

“Close friends they have lived with have been killed and parts of their bodies are displayed as a kind of trophy for the world to see.”

Footage captured on a head camera of another Marine on patrol with Blackman showed him killing the Taliban insurgent in September 2011.

After shooting the insurgent, Blackman told him: “There you are. Shuffle off this mortal coil.

“It’s nothing you wouldn’t do to us.”

He then turned to comrades and said: “Obviously this doesn’t go anywhere fellas.

“I just broke the Geneva Convention.”

Following the tour, Blackman returned home to prepare troops for deployment to Afghanistan.

In October 2012, he was arrested on suspicion of murder after the video footage was found on a Royal Marine’s laptop during an unrelated investigation by civilian police.

His trial began in October 2013 and he was convicted of murder on November 8.

Blackman was jailed for life with a minimum term of ten years in prison, which was later cut to eight.

In a statement issued through his solicitor after he was sentenced, Blackman said he was “devastated” adding that he was “very sorry” for any damage caused.

The latest ruling recognises he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time and not a “cold blooded killer”.

A further hearing will determine how long he must serve and when he will finally return home.

TIMELINE

March 2011: Sgt Blackman deploys to Helmand province with 42 Commando His unit sees heavy fighting. Several Marines are killed, including his troop commander, and others are maimed.

September 15: Taliban insurgents attack a British patrol base. The attack is repelled. Sgt Blackman and his Marines are on patrol and sent to look for the fleeing attackers. They find one, lying gravely wounded, in a field. Sgt Blackman shoots him in the chest with his pistol. The killing is captured on helmet camera by one of the patrol.

September 2012: The video is found on a Marine’s laptop during an investigation by civilian police into another alleged crime. Police investigation begins.

October 11: Seven unnamed Marines are arrested on suspicion of murder.

October 23, 2013: Sgt Blackman and two others go on trial at the Court Martial Centre in Wiltshire, accused of murder. He is only identified as Marine A and his comrades as Marines B and C. All three plead not guilty.

November 8: Sgt Blackman found guilty of murder. The others are acquitted.

December 5: A court rules Sgt Blackman should be stripped of anonymity.

December 6: Sgt Blackman is given a life sentence and told he must serve a minimum of ten years May 22, 2014: Sgt Blackman loses a Court of Appeal bid to overturn his life sentence.

September 2015: A high-profile campaign begins to have him freed.

December 16: 1,100 pages of new evidence are handed into the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

December 2016: The CCRC concludes there is a real possibility of overturning the conviction and grants an appeal.

December 21: Sgt Blackman loses a bid to be released on bail in time for Christmas ahead of his appeal hearing.

February 7, 2017: Five judges begin hearing an appeal brought by Sgt Blackman to overturn his murder conviction at the Court Martial Appeal Court.

March 15, 2017: Sgt Blackman has murder conviction replaced with manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. A new sentence will be set later.