Tri-Service

Campaign To Free Royal Marine Jailed For Battlefield Murder

A new campaign has been launched to clear a former Royal Marine jailed for murdering a Taliban fighter.

Sgt Alexander Blackman was convicted two years ago of shooting the wounded prisoner in Helmand province in 2011.

The case is controversial, and he has powerful supporters who have launched a new effort to free him. His wife Claire has issued an appeal for support through the Daily Mail.

Evidence to the original court-martial in 2013 revolved around helmet camera footage recorded by one of the three men that stood trial for the murder.

Marines B and C were cleared of all charges but Marine A, as Blackman was known in court, was found guilty and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 10 years.

This was later reduced to eight years on appeal.

It is a case that inspires strong feelings: at the heart of the argument, the fact this all took place on the battlefield.

Sergeant Blackman’s unit had had a difficult tour with many fellow Royal Marines killed or seriously injured.

Click below for the thoughts of documentary-maker and journalist Chris Terrill, who was filming with Royal Marines on the frontline when the killing took place:

Thanks to the helmet camera, there’s no real dispute about the chain of events.

There was no debate in the court-martial that the Taliban fighter had been wounded, nor that he was a prisoner at the time Blackman shot him.

The defence case hinged on the man already being dead when Blackman opened fire; the video though does appear to show him moving slightly on the ground and making muffled noises.

The court heard that a neighbouring patrol base had come under rifle fire and that an Apache attack helicopter had hit one of the attackers. Sgt Blackman’s callsign was dispatched to a field to find him.

The video, which has never been publicly released for fear of reprisals, shows what happened next.

They dragged the wounded man from where he fell to cover near a tree line and called in the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) helicopter to treat him.

There was a brief attempt to administer first aid, and much was made in court about how hard the men had tried to save him.

The video shows one of the marines, Marine C, offering to shoot him - something put down in court to ‘banter’.

Several minutes passed before Blackman pulled his own pistol and shot the prisoner in the chest.

“Shuffle off this mortal coil you ****,” he said. “It’s nothing you wouldn’t do to us.”

Turning to his fellow marines he said “Obviously this doesn’t go anywhere fellas. I’ve just broke the Geneva Convention.”

Now, Blackman has a new defence team and appears to want a retrial, arguing that key evidence was missed in the original court-martial.

His new lawyers are arguing that the original team should have pressed for it all to be considered manslaughter through, for instance, diminished responsibility due to combat stress disorder.

There’s also some suggestion that a potential witness about the mitigating circumstances was prevented from giving evidence.

This is a case that polarises opinion.

Ex Royal Marine-turned politician Paddy Ashdown says on Twitter:

“A soldiers [sic] standards are hard but uncompromisable. Kill an enemy when in your sights but do all to save him when in your power.”

On the other hand ex-SAS trooper Chris Ryan says “Glad to see this campaign to review sentence of Sgt Blackman. This lad shouldn’t be in prison in the first place.”

Blackman’s new legal team is wading through the volumes of evidence in this case and is, we understand, yet to lodge any application with the courts.