Royal Marine Alexander Blackman has murder conviction downgraded

A Royal Marine who shot an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan has had his murder conviction downgraded to manslaughter.
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Mar 2017, 11:57 BST
Updated 24th Mar 2017, 10:59 BST
Former Royal Marine Sergeant Alexander BlackmanFormer Royal Marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman
Former Royal Marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman

Alexander Blackman shot the insurgent in Helmand province in 2011 and was convicted of murder two years later.

He was the first British serviceman convicted of murder on a foreign battlefield since the Second World War.

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Today, five judges sitting at the Court Martial Appeal Court in London have replaced that conviction with manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Claire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, with supporters outside the High Court in London, where the Royal Marine Sergeant has had his murder conviction reduced to manslaughterClaire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, with supporters outside the High Court in London, where the Royal Marine Sergeant has had his murder conviction reduced to manslaughter
Claire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, with supporters outside the High Court in London, where the Royal Marine Sergeant has had his murder conviction reduced to manslaughter

A new sentence will be set at a later date.

Sergeant Blackman’s wife Claire said she was “delighted” by the decision to reduce the conviction, saying it “much better reflects the circumstances that my husband found himself in during that terrible tour of Afghanistan”.

Supporters of Sgt Blackman have also welcomed the court’s decision.

Colonel Oliver Lee, who resigned from the Royal Marines in protest at the treatment of Sgt Blackman, said: “I am delighted by the outcome today in the Royal Courts of Justice.

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Claire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, with supporters outside the High Court in London, where the Royal Marine Sergeant has had his murder conviction reduced to manslaughterClaire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, with supporters outside the High Court in London, where the Royal Marine Sergeant has had his murder conviction reduced to manslaughter
Claire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, with supporters outside the High Court in London, where the Royal Marine Sergeant has had his murder conviction reduced to manslaughter

“It has been a long process to get here, but I am very pleased that Sergeant Blackman has now been dealt with justly and fairly.

“This has been my sole intention throughout these proceedings. My only hope now is that the many lessons from this tragic case will be learned.”

Col Lee, chief executive of the Challenge Network charity, was Sgt Blackman’s commanding officer when the Taliban insurgent was shot dead.

Author Frederick Forsyth said: “It’s not over yet. We always wanted justice - a very elusive word, much used, seldom achieved, it’s a two-bladed weapon.

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“Firstly, one blade to get a man who should never have been in prison out of prison, secondly, we go after those people who wrongly and I think villainously put him there.

“The establishment won’t do that, now it’s our job - we’re the media, we do the examining, we uncover things that we’re not supposed to know.

“So I think, from now on, what really happened there is down to you, and I think we’ll do our job just as well as the lawyers did theirs and the judges did theirs.

“Because there are things that need to be said about what was done to that man and who did it to him, and why and how, and how they got away with it so far but not much further.

“So back to the media now - the other ones who will not be discouraged from doing what has to be done.”

Related topics:AfghanistanTaliban