Marine A will keep his identity despite the threats, his lawyer says

ALEXANDER BLACKMAN, the Royal Marine freed from a prison sentence for killing a Taliban fighter, is not expected to change his identity or appearance to protect himself from harm, his lawyer said yesterday.

The former sergeant is considering a life outside the Armed Forces for the first time in almost two decades after being freed from prison in the early hours of Friday following the quashing of his conviction for murder.

Blackman, 42, known as “Marine A” during his 2013 trial, praised his “wife in a million” who “saved me” after the pair were reunited on his release from HMP Erlestoke in Wiltshire.

His lawyer, Jonathan Goldberg QC, said yesterday: “Al has been advised by police to change his identity in view of the perceived threats but I don’t believe he will. This is a Royal Marines Colour Sergeant for heaven’s sake and it’s not how these boys behave.

“And you could say this highlights the whole tragedy of this case and the loss of a brave soldier at a time when his country needs him most.”

Blackman and his wife, NHS manager Claire, 45, who have spent less than four of their seven-year marriage together, were said to be relaxing in a West Country cottage. The former Marine is understood to be considering job offers from the private security, military and training sector.

Among his plans, friends say, is to complete a university degree he began in prison and which could take his life in a “completely different direction”.

There is now talk of a book deal and a Hollywood film with Tom Hardy as Blackman, Kate Winslet playing wife and Al Pacino as Mr Goldberg.

The lawyer said of the reunited couple: “Once they are fully decompressed, I will meet them and we will discuss the interesting meeting I just had in Hollywood at the invitation of a famous producer from which it is clear that a major movie could be in the offing.”

Blackman spent more than three years as a prisoner and 15 as a serviceman his with five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was dismissed in disgrace from the military, despite the pleas of senior officers.

Appeal Court judges ruled in March that battlefield stress Blackman suffered was sufficient to change his conviction to manslaughter. That cut his sentence from life to seven years for the 2011 killing of a wounded Afghan insurgent.