Fighting fund for jailed Marine tops £750,000
More than 30,000 generous readers help his battle for justice
THE Royal Marine jailed for murder declared a ‘huge thank you’ yesterday to Mail readers who have raised £750,000 in less than a month.
Money has flooded in from donors outraged at the treatment of Sergeant Alexander Blackman.
The response has been so tremendous the Mail has decided to pause the appeal for contributions to Sgt Blackman’s legal costs.
In just three weeks, more than 30,000 readers have sent cheques and online donations towards a new appeal – with the total tipping £751,000.
Moving messages of support have also poured in from former and current military figures, war widows and furious mothers of soldiers offering sympathy to Sgt Blackman, the only known British serviceman to be convicted of murder on a foreign battlefield.
He was jailed for life in 2013 for shooting a dying Taliban fighter in Afghanistan in 2011. The armed insurgent had been trying to storm a British outpost in Helmand Prov- ince. But a Mail investigation uncovered evidence that was ‘deliberately withheld’ from the court martial – when Sgt Blackman was known as ‘Marine A’.
We also revealed a high-flying officer, Colonel Oliver Lee, quit his commission in disgust at being blocked from giving evidence in support of Sgt Blackman at his trial. A secret Ministry of Defence report, leaked to the Mail, confessed commanders had pushed Sgt Blackman’s unit to be too aggressive and failed to spot growing ‘psychological strain and fatigue’.
The money will enable Sgt Blackman and his wife Claire to fund an application to have his murder conviction reduced to manslaughter.
Speaking f r om HM Prison Erlestoke, in Wiltshire, the former Royal Marine colour sergeant said: ‘I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone. The support and generosity means so much. Thank you.’
His wife said: ‘We have been overwhelmed by the amazing response. The generosity of so many people has been truly humbling. On behalf of Al and his family, I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us and donated to the Justice for Sgt Blackman campaign. It is only with your help that we can now push for a legal review of Al’s case and knowing that we do so with the support of people across the country gives us great strength and courage.’
Author Frederick Forsyth, who is spearheading the campaign for justice, said: ‘I have long said we have here a great country and a great people. Only the new Establishment lets us down. The people show themselves generous, compassionate and willing to help someone subjected to misery.’
Every day for the past few weeks, hundreds of envelopes have arrived at the Mail’s offices. One contained simply a cheque for £5,000, but mostly there have been cheques for £10 and £20, often with letters expressing outrage at the way Sgt Blackman has been treated.
One former Gurkha officer vowed he would send his medals back to the Ministry of Defence.
Many donations for £5 or £10 came from pensioners who even apologised for not being able to give more. One man wrote to Sgt Blackman: ‘We are all behind you and we will get you out of there.’
The mother and stepfather of SAS soldier Brad Tinnion – who was killed in an operation to rescue British soldiers held hostage in Sierra Leone in 2000 – made a donation too. His mother Phyllis Collins, 67, said: ‘I don’t think the jury had ever been in a battle situation. How could they come to such a conclusion?’
Last night Sir Tim Rice, the West End lyricist who is a patron of the Sgt Blackman campaign, said: ‘Thanks to thousands of supporters from many walks of life the injustice done to a man who has bravely given so much of his life to his country will soon be fully investigated.’
The money raised is enough to fund Sgt Blackman’s legal costs for the foreseeable future, and the appeal website will close at midnight tonight.
His new legal team will petition the Criminal Cases Review Commission to send the case back for rehearing by the Court of Appeal on the basis that the crucial defence of manslaughter was never raised by the defence team at the original court martial, nor was this a possible verdict for the ‘jury’ panel of seven Royal Navy officers to consider.
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