British murderer in Iraq threatens suicide

Danny Fitzsimons will serve at least 20 years for killing Scot Paul McGuigan and Australian Darren Hoare in August 2009.

His stepmother said he is frightened of being sent to Baghdad’s Rusafa prison because he is a former British Army paratrooper.

Fitzsimons, 31, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, worked with the two victims for private security group ArmourGroup.

Mr McGuigan, 37, a former Royal Marine originally from Peebles in the Scottish Borders, was gunned down alongside Mr Hoare in Iraq’s Green Zone.

Mr McGuigan was shot twice in the chest and through the mouth, while Mr Hoare was shot through the temple at close range.

Fitzsimons claimed he was acting in self-defence when he shot his colleagues, asking the judges to consider convicting him on lesser manslaughter charges.

His step-mother, Liz Fitzsimons, said she was “euphoric” that he had avoided the death penalty, but still had “massive concerns”.

“Danny, for the last few weeks, has been constantly saying he cannot end up in Rusafa jail, which is the main jail out there.

“He said it’s full of al-Qaida, Taliban, Mujahideen, all of these people.

“He said “I will be a target” and he said “I just won’t last”. He said “I will be a dead man if they put me in there”.

“We really are concerned that wherever he does end up he is safe.

“He has also said that if they talk about putting him in Rusafa jail he will take his own life first.”

She went on to say that her step-son should not have been allowed to go to Iraq because of his mental health.

She said Fitzsimons was discharged from the military after suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and criticised the Army for not helping him and fellows sufferers.

His family did not know that he had gone to Iraq to work for the private security firm.

A spokesman for legal charity Reprieve said there was still a chance Fitzsimons will face the death penalty, because both the prosecution and defence have 30 days to appeal the sentence. The spokesman added that the security group had been negligent because they carried out only minimal checks that failed to spot Fitzsimons’ instability.

He was the first Westerner to stand trial in Iraq since a 2009 US-Iraqi security agreement lifted immunity for foreigners.

Paul McGuigan’s fiancée Nicci Prestage said she found some solace in the fact that Fitzsimons has been convicted of murder as there was no evidence to support his claims of self-defence.