|
WickedsDesire -> Marine “A” sentenced reduced to 7 years (3/28/2017 4:08:12 AM)
|
A Royal Marine convicted of killing a wounded Taliban fighter in Afghanistan has been jailed for seven years.
Sgt Alexander Blackman, 42, will be freed in weeks as he has already served more than three years in jail.
The sentencing came after the Court Martial Appeal Court ruled Blackman's original murder conviction should be reduced to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The 2011 shooting took place after a British patrol base came under fire.
One of two insurgents was seriously injured by gunfire from an Apache helicopter sent to provide air support, and the marines from 42 Commando found him in a field…..
The court martial heard that Blackman used abusive language and said: "There you are. Shuffle off this mortal coil."
He then turned to his comrades and said: "obviously this doesn't go anywhere, fellas. I just broke the Geneva Convention".
But Blackman told his original trial he believed the victim was already dead and he was taking out his anger on a corpse.
Blackman's trial was the first time a member of the British armed forces had faced a murder charge in relation to the conflict in Afghanistan, which began in 2001. Two other marines from 42 Commando were tried at the same time but acquitted.
Blackman was convicted of murder in November 2013 and jailed for life. He lost an appeal in May the following year, but his 10-year minimum term was reduced to eight years.
Judges at the Court Martial Appeal Court in London had been told he had a recognised mental illness at the time of the killing.
His defence team argued the conviction was "unsafe" and fresh psychiatric evidence, if available at the time, would have provided him with a "partial defence".
But in their sentencing remarks, the judges said that although Blackman's responsibility was diminished, he "still retained a substantial responsibility for the deliberate killing".
They added: "The appellant's actions can be used by the insurgency and others as evidence that the killing of the insurgent was in breach of the values proclaimed for which the International Security Force and HM Armed Forces had been sent to Afghanistan."
Full article is here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39417239
- seems like he executed him to me
|
|
|
|
