Royal Marine's wife tells of joy at husband's imminent return

THE wife of Royal Marine Alexander Blackman, who was jailed for killing an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan, has spoken of her joy at the prospect of her husband coming home within a few weeks.
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Mar 2017, 07:48 BST
Updated 8th Apr 2017, 22:28 BST
Former Royal Marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman. Picture: Andrew Parsons/PA WireFormer Royal Marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman. Picture: Andrew Parsons/PA Wire
Former Royal Marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman. Picture: Andrew Parsons/PA Wire

Claire Blackman said she was “overjoyed” after judges sentenced her husband to seven years for diminished responsibility manslaughter – meaning that because of time already served he could be freed next month.

Surrounded by scores of veterans outside the Court Martial Appeal Court in London, she said: “We are overjoyed at the judges’ decision to significantly reduce Al’s sentence, such that he can be released imminently. This is the moment that we have all been fighting hard for. It is hard to believe that this day is finally here.”

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A panel of five judges, headed by Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, sentenced Blackman, 42, from Taunton in Somerset, to the term of seven years following the recent quashing of his murder conviction for the 2011 killing.

Claire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London as the Royal Marine could be freed from prison within weeks after the Court Martial Appeal Court sentenced him to seven years for the manslaughter of an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA WireClaire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London as the Royal Marine could be freed from prison within weeks after the Court Martial Appeal Court sentenced him to seven years for the manslaughter of an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Claire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London as the Royal Marine could be freed from prison within weeks after the Court Martial Appeal Court sentenced him to seven years for the manslaughter of an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Announcing the decision, Lord Thomas said: “As with any person sentenced to a determinate term, his release will ordinarily be at the halfway point of the sentence.”

Blackman, who watched yesterday’s proceedings via video link, has already spent almost three-and-a-half years in prison following his original conviction in November 2013 after the death of the insurgent. One of his legal team indicated he would probably be released in about two weeks, but the decision on the exact date was for the Prison Service to determine.

The Court Martial Appeal Court ruled previously that Blackman was suffering from an “abnormality of mental functioning” at the time of the 2011 killing when he was serving with Plymouth-based 42 Commando. The court found the incident was not a “cold-blooded execution” as a court martial had earlier concluded, but the result of a mental illness, an “adjustment disorder”.

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The judges said Blackman had been “an exemplary soldier before his deployment to Afghanistan in March 2011”, but had “suffered from quite exceptional stressors” during that deployment.

Claire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London as the Royal Marine could be freed from prison within weeks after the Court Martial Appeal Court sentenced him to seven years for the manslaughter of an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA WireClaire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London as the Royal Marine could be freed from prison within weeks after the Court Martial Appeal Court sentenced him to seven years for the manslaughter of an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Claire Blackman, the wife of Alexander Blackman, outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London as the Royal Marine could be freed from prison within weeks after the Court Martial Appeal Court sentenced him to seven years for the manslaughter of an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

They found his ability to “form a rational judgment” was “substantially impaired”.

Blackman shot the insurgent, who had been seriously injured in an attack by an Apache helicopter, in the chest at close range with a 9mm pistol before quoting a phrase from Shakespeare as the man convulsed and died in front of him. The judges said in their sentencing remarks that “this was a deliberate killing of a wounded man”.

Although Blackman’s responsibility was diminished, he “still retained a substantial responsibility for the deliberate killing”. They listed a number of “aggravating” factors, including “the effect of the appellant’s actions on the reputation and safety of HM Armed Forces”.

Comment: Page 14.