Fury at 12-month delay for Sergeant Blackman
Marine’s months of legal limbo ‘inexplicable and unjustifiable’
THE Royal Marine jailed for killing a Taliban fighter is enduring an ‘unjustifiable’ delay in his fight for justice.
A year ago generous Daily Mail readers donated £800,000 to help Sergeant Alexander Blackman challenge his life sentence.
His lawyers lodged crucial new evidence with the Criminal Cases Review Commission last December.
But, nine months on, bureaucrats have still not decided whether to refer his case to the Court of Appeal.
At the same time British troops are being hounded by ambulance-chasing lawyers over other incidents in the line of duty.
Yesterday, it emerged that three more soldiers – including a decorated major – face the prospect of manslaughter charges over the death of an Iraqi teenager 13 years ago.
Sergeant Blackman, 42, became the first British serviceman to be jailed for murder on a foreign battlefield.
Yet vital evidence was withheld from his 2013 court martial and his original legal team was criticised for not pursuing a manslaughter option. The
insurgent he shot had already been mortally wounded attacking a British outpost. The Mail understands that: Two barristers who represented the Marine at his court martial have refused to be interviewed by CCRC investigators;
The CCRC officer in the case was promoted and handed the file to a colleague;
A psychiatrist has yet to meet Sgt Blackman to assess his claim to have been suffering combat stress.
Frederick Forsyth, the thriller writer who is spearheading the campaign, said: ‘British justice has long prided itself on the adage that justice delayed is justice denied.
‘A devastating dossier was submitted on the sergeant’s behalf last December which was so minutely prepared by his eminent lawyers that it offered every single thing they needed on a plate, in my opinion.
‘It is now nine months on, and the delay is inexplicable and surely unjustifiable.
‘One can only imagine the exasperation of Sgt Blackman as he whiles away the days in his cell and wonders when he will be a free
Evidence that could win justice for Marine
man again. We are talking about a man who was convicted, in my view, of a crime he did not commit. He and his men were abandoned in an Afghan hell on earth until they were dangerously exhausted. Now the sergeant has been left to rot in jail.’
The CCRC was expected to have completed the case by June. Sgt Blackman’s wife Claire, 44, said: ‘We do understand that the CCRC has a difficult job to do. This is a complex case and we absolutely recognise they need time to thoroughly review all of the evidence and court proceedings in detail.
‘In the meantime though, we are no closer to getting Al home and it is difficult to understand just how long the process might take.’
Mrs Blackman, who speaks to her husband every day at HM Prison Erlestoke in Wiltshire, added: ‘Al is doing well, keeping busy and keeping his spirits up.
He is studying for an Open University degree, working in the library and spending as much time as he can in the gym. He is just focused on getting through each day in a positive way.’
Sergeant Blackman’s prosecution for murder under the name Marine A was one of the most contentious episodes of the Afghan war.
A veteran of five tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, he said he thought the armed insurgent was already dead when he shot him. He was captured on another Marine’s helmet camera quoting from Hamlet as he declared: ‘Shuffle off this mortal coil.’
He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of ten years, later reduced at appeal to a minimum of eight. His supporters believe he was made a scapegoat for failings by top brass.
A Daily Mail investigation uncovered vital evidence that was ‘deliberately withheld’ from the court martial. We revealed that a high-flying officer, Colonel Oliver Lee, quit his commission in disgust at the way mitigating evidence was blocked from being heard.
His troop had been left at breaking point, manning a remote outpost in Helmand province during a prolonged ‘tour from hell’ in which seven Marines were killed and 45 maimed.
A damning internal Ministry of Defence report, leaked to the Mail, revealed that undermanning and equipment shortages had put them under unimaginable pressure. The dossier contained crucial evidence not seen by the court martial.
Sgt Blackman’s former defence lawyers, led by Anthony Berry QC and his junior Peter Glenser, are accused of blundering by failing to pursue a lesser manslaughter conviction at his trial. And their client was not examined by a psychiatrist to explore the issue of combat stress.
A manslaughter sentence could have been no more than three to four years in prison – time which he has already now served with remission for good behaviour.
The Mail also discovered the jury trying Sgt Blackman for murder was split 5-2, with the panel allegedly put under ‘considerable pressure’ to convict.
Mr Berry has since given written explanations to the CCRC but has refused, on legal advice, to meet its investigators. He and Mr Glenser both said yesterday they had given the commission written explanations for their conduct. On December 16 last year, Sgt Blackman’s wife presented the CCRC with eight compelling new grounds – researched by the fresh legal team led by QC Jonathan Goldberg – as to why her husband deserved a fresh appeal.
They included psychiatric evidence from two experts suggesting he was suffering from combat stress disorder and had momentary ‘loss of control’.
There has been no explanation as to why the CCRC has so far failed to send its own psychiatrist to verify the finding. The commission’s slow progress on a case granted ‘top priority’ has baffled fellow servicemen.
John Davies, a former Royal Marine coordinating the campaign for justice, said: ‘Supporters are fuming at the delay. People want to know why the wheels of justice are turning so slowly for a man who served his country and put his life on the line out there.’
A commission spokesman said: ‘The CCRC has a duty to conduct an objective and independent assessment of the arguments which have been raised. We cannot reach a decision in a case until we have tested and given proper scrutiny to the arguments.’
He confirmed that one of three members of staff conducting the review had been promoted, but insisted: ‘The CCRC has established procedures to ensure that no time is lost as a result of this kind of staff change.’
Last night Mr Berry, speaking also for Mr Glenser, said: ‘I received legal advice that I should not agree to be interviewed by the CCRC but that I should supply a detailed written statement instead (in addition to the extensive replies to Mr Blackman’s lawyers’ written questions). I have taken that advice and will be making no further comment.’
A ‘show of support’ by hundreds of retired Marines, other servicemen and members of the public will be held in Parliament Square on Friday, October 28.