Jailed ‘killer’ Marine is walking free today
JAILED Royal Marine Alexander Blackman will be released from prison today, campaigners said last night.
Sergeant Blackman, 42, has spent more than three years behind bars after he shot dead a wounded Taliban fighter in Afghanistan in 2011. He was originally convicted of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum tariff of 10 years.
But the sentence was quashed last month – by the Court Martial Appeal Court – and replaced with a verdict of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, after a crusade for justice led by his wife Claire, 45.
The couple were last night preparing for an emotional reunion as the commando – who was also known as “Marine A” – was expected to walk free from Erlestoke prison near Devizes, Wiltshire, in the early hours.
Yesterday a post on the Justice for Marine A Facebook page said: “We are delighted to announce that Al will finally be released tomorrow after what has been a well fought battle by you all. We will of course be posting more updates but can we please remember that this is a tense time for the family and that they have asked for some privacy.”
Sgt Blackman, from Taunton, Somerset, was convicted in 2013 of murdering the Taliban fighter while serving with 42 Commando in Helmand in 2011.
The insurgent had been wounded by gunfire from an Apache helicopter before Sgt Blackman shot him in the chest with a 9mm pistol.
Last month cheers erupted in the Appeal Court as five judges ruled that it was not a “cold-blooded execution”, as the original court martial found, but the result of a mental illness. Judges described Sgt Blackman as “an exemplary soldier” before his deployment in March 2011, but said he had suffered from “exceptional stressors” during that tour, finding that his ability to “form a rational judgment” was “substantially impaired”.
The judges concluded that Sgt Blackman should be dismissed from the Royal Marines, but not with disgrace.
After the ruling last month, a delighted Claire emerged from court beaming and surrounded by ecstatic veterans who had backed the campaign. She said: “It is hard to believe that this day is finally here.”
Her husband’s lawyer Jonathan Goldberg, QC, said it was thanks to her that the couple will be reunited.
He said: “The lioness of this story, who inspired us throughout, is Claire Blackman.”
The QC said of the legal team’s victory: “We had the honour of giving the roar, but she is the lioness. She kept the flame alive when the legal system had completely abandoned her husband.
“Her courage and her dignity have been amazing.”
Sgt Blackman is being released after serving half of his revised sentence of seven years. He is said to have had job offers in the security industry and is considering writing a book.
It it thought he was whisked out of the prison by local police in the early hours of the morning.
Daily Express columnist Frederick Forsyth, who backed the campaign, said: “The establishment wants to spirit him out in the middle of the night to a secret location. If I wrote this in a book, people would say that’s just not the way things are done in Britain. But it is these days.”