It’s like Christmas, says wife as jailed Marine is freed

MARINE Alexander Blackman hid from the cameras as he left prison today after completing his reduced sentence for shooting dead an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan.

The commando, 42, who spent three years in prison for killing the insurgent in 2011, was driven away from Erlestoke jail in Wiltshire, just after midnight.

Sgt Blackman — known as Marine A during his original trial — was convicted of murder but this was quashed last month after an appeal and replaced with diminished responsibility man- slaughter. Judges ruled he was suffering from an “abnormality of mental functioning” at the time of the incident.

His sentence was cut from life to seven years, leading to his early release. Wife Claire said as she prepared to be reunited with him: “I feel like a child waiting for Christmas. ”