Royal Marine Alexander Blackman faces life sentence for Taliban murder

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/05/royal-marine-alexander-blackman-taliban-murder

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A Royal Marine convicted of murdering a Taliban prisoner in Afghanistan will face life imprisonment when he is sentenced on Friday, 24 hours after losing a year-long battle to protect his anonymity.

Lawyers for the marine, who can now be named as Alexander Wayne Blackman, 39, will argue that his excellent service record and the pressure he was under when he opened fire on an injured insurgent should be taken into consideration when setting the minimum term he will face.

Arrangements are already under way to offer him protection in the civilian prison he will serve his sentence in because of the high profile and sensitive nature of his offence. Measures have also been taken to protect his wife and family from revenge attacks.

Blackman, an experienced and hugely respected member of 42 Commando, has argued for a year that he and his relatives could become targets of Islamist extremists if his identify was known.

But three high court judges, including the lord chief justice, Lord Thomas, have said that he could be named after media organisations, including the Guardian, argued that his identity should be revealed in the interest of open justice.

Blackman was convicted last month of shooting dead a wounded insurgent in Helmand in 2011, becoming the first British serviceman since at least the second world war to be convicted of murder during an overseas deployment.

His court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire, was shown a damning video of him firing his pistol into the chest of the prisoner, who had been badly wounded in a helicopter strike. He was heard telling the dying man: "There you are, shuffle off this mortal coil, you cunt. It's nothing you wouldn't do to us."

The lifting of the anonymity order means that the full details of Blackman's career can be revealed for the first time.

After joining the corps 15 years ago his first taste of active service came in Northern Ireland. He quickly impressed and by the time of the 11 September, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US, Blackman – known as Al – had been promoted to lance corporal.

Over the next 10 years, Blackman completed three tours of Iraq and two of Afghanistan. He took part in fierce fighting in Iraq as British forces helped remove Saddam Hussein and had many narrow escapes, including one incident in which a vehicle he was in was badly damaged by a grenade. He completed an exemplary first tour of Afghanistan.

Blackman's final tour began when he was deployed to Helmand in March 2011 to help build schools, hospitals, roads and prepare Afghan forces for when they take full responsibility for security. It was also a time of fierce fighting with well-armed and motivated insurgents.

By then a sergeant, he was considered a safe pair of hands by his superiors, a physically imposing marine who led from the front.

In May 2011, Blackman was devastated when a roadside bomb claimed the lives of two hugely well-liked and admired marines, including Lieutenant Ollie Augustin, 23, whom Blackman had mentored. "We had a good rapport," Blackman said. "He was developing into a very good officer."

Another man lost a leg in the attack. Blackman and his comrades were outraged to see it hung from a tree as a gruesome trophy. "It's not a nice thing when you find out body parts have been displayed as a kind of trophy for the world to see," said Blackman.

Blackman described life in Helmand as frantic. By September – when the murder took place – the marines were stretched, partly because of the number of fatalities and injuries they had suffered.

On 15 September 2011, when he and his patrol came face to face with the insurgent, he was stressed and jaded. By his own admission he lost control and shot the man – though he insisted he thought he was taking out his frustration on a corpse. Asked about the way the man had been roughly treated and verbally abused by the marines, he said: "They are the enemy; they are not nice people."

Back in the UK, Blackman was based in Folkestone, Kent, where he trained younger marines in the use of heavy weapons such as machine guns. He had been selected for promotion to colour sergeant and his future seemed bright until investigators came by chance on the footage of the incident, which had been captured on a head-camera worn against orders by one of Blackman's colleagues.

Among the former marines who have spoken up for Blackman is Matt Croucher, who was awarded the George Cross for bravery in Afghanistan. He served alongside Blackman and described him as a professional "leader of men."

Two other marines who were on the patrol with Marine A but were cleared of murder cannot be named while they decide whether to continue to fight to stop their identities being released.

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