New Evidence In 'Marine A' Taliban Killing Case

The wife of a former Royal Marine found guilty of murdering a Taliban fighter in 2011 has said her husband genuinely believed the insurgent was dead when he shot him. Speaking to Sky News, Claire Blackman said her husband Alexander was coming to the end of "an incredibly brutal" six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan when he discharged his weapon. "It is beyond our comprehension, unless we have served out there, to understand what it must have been like to be out there, to lose your comrades, to see your comrades mortally wounded and seriously injured, and to be under fire and under-resourced on a daily basis," she said. Ms Blackman added that her husband was making the best use of his time in prison. "He's studying for a degree, he's working hard, and he's getting to the gym as often as he can," she said.

Ms Blackman is submitting a new legal file today in an attempt to have her husband's case re-examined.
She will present the detailed seven-volume document to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in Birmingham.
Hundreds of former Marines and current politicians are expected to support her. The documents are expected to argue that Blackman, a sergeant in the Royal Marines, was suffering from undiagnosed combat stress when he killed the injured fighter. His supporters want this to be taken into consideration by a court as they look to reduce his conviction from murder to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.


http://news.sky.com/story/1606817/new-evidence-in-marine-a-taliban-killing-case


It is a complete farce that he is in jail and it shows how much the system fails to understand the mental strain soldiers go through with in combat.

It's stupid. If they weren't there to kill the Taliban, what were they there for?