A former British serviceman convicted of murdering a Taliban fighter and sentenced to life in prison has been released.
Royal Marine Alexander Blackman, known during his prosecution as Marine A, was whisked out of Erlestoke prison in Wiltshire by police in the early hours of this morning to avoid a media scrum.
He was jailed for life in 2013 for the murder of an injured Taliban insurgent two years previously.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Footage from an unofficial helmet-mounted camera of another marine, found during an unrelated investigation, showed he had shot the prisoner in the chest at close range with a 9mm pistol.
Following a high-profile campaign led by Blackman's wife Claire, the Daily Mail, whose readers contributed £800,000 to a legal fund, and spy writer Frederick Forsyth, the Court Martial Appeal Court ruled in March that Blackman's original murder conviction should be reduced to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The Sun described the verdict as a "a victory for justice and common sense".
However, despite the decision, the judges' sentencing remarks made it clear they did not absolve Blackman.
"This was a deliberate killing of a wounded man," they said. "He still retained a substantial responsibility for the deliberate killing."
The Guardian says other mitigating factors, including the serviceman's outstanding record, mental state and a perceived lack of leadership by his superiors, all contributed to the verdict.
Police have warned that the Blackmans, who have promised to tell their story exclusively to the Daily Mail, could be a target for terrorists.
'Marine A' Alexander Blackman to be released in weeks
28 April
Former Royal Marine Alexander Blackman is to be released from prison after senior judges sentenced him to seven years for the manslaughter of an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan
As he has already served more than three years in jail, he will be freed in two weeks, in what The Sun describes as a "a victory for justice and common sense".
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.Supporters celebrated on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
Blackman's wife Claire said: "We are overjoyed at the judges' decision to significantly reduce Al's sentence such that he can be released imminently."
She went on to thank Daily Mail readers, who contributed £800,000 to a legal fund for her husband, as well as her legal team and marines who had supported him.
Despite the decision to reduce his punishment, today's sentencing remarks make it clear that the judges did not absolve Blackman, who was known by his codename Marine A during his original trial, of all responsibility.
"This was a deliberate killing of a wounded man," they said. "He still retained a substantial responsibility for the deliberate killing."
Mitigating factors included the marine's outstanding record, mental state and a perceived lack of leadership by his superiors, reports The Guardian.
The killing on 15 September 2011 took place during the final month of Blackman's 42 Commando's six-month tour of duty to Helmand province, said the BBC.
Footage from an unofficial helmet-mounted camera of another marine, found during an unrelated investigation, showed Blackman shooting his prisoner in the chest at close range with a 9mm pistol.
Marine A: Alexander Blackman could be released 'in weeks'
16 March
The only British serviceman convicted of murder during the war in Afghanistan could be released within weeks after having his conviction reduced to manslaughter.
Royal Marine Alexander Blackman, who is expected to be handed a new sentence next week, has already spent three years behind bars, reports The Sun, which adds: "If Blackman's eight-year tariff is upheld, he need only serve half the sentence and could be released in October. But if it is reduced, he may be home much sooner."
Appeal Court judges said the soldier was suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness when he pulled the trigger on a Taliban fighter who had been injured by helicopter gunfire in Helmand province.
They ruled his conviction should be of the lesser charge of manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility.
Blackman was convicted of murder in December 2013 after a video recording of the 2011 incident, captured on a helmet camera won by another marine, was found by police during a separate investigation, says the Daily Telegraph.
He was given a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of eight years.
In the initial trial, Blackman, who was referred to as "Marine A", was not examined by a psychiatrist for signs of combat stress and there was no mention of a lesser conviction of manslaughter.
Speaking out for the first time, fellow marine Rob Driscoll, who was at a nearby patrol base at the time, told the BBC's Panorama: "Everyone that was speaking on that radio was sending out a signal to [Blackman]... Everyone wanted that guy to be dead."
He added that no one on the team wanted to send a medical unit to help the fighter because the ground could have been littered with roadside bombs.
"I'm glad Al did what he did, because all my guys went home," he added. "And maybe, just maybe, if he hadn't've done that I'd have been going to a few more funerals or laying some more flowers on people's graves, for someone I have absolutely zilch respect for because he was trying to kill my friends and me."
Sam Deen, a junior member of Blackman's team, said: "I do think he took the responsibility for the younger lads… He thought it was his responsibility to do it, and then move on."
Blackman's wife, Claire, said she was "delighted" by the decision to reduce the murder conviction.
She added: "It much better reflects the circumstances that my husband found himself in during that terrible tour of Afghanistan."
