Marine 'A' wins appeal as murder conviction downgraded to manslaughter

'Shuffle off this mortal coil you c***. It’s nothing you wouldn’t do to us' Sergeant Alexander Blackman said as he pulled the trigger

(PA)

A Royal Marine who shot an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan has won an appeal against his murder conviction.

Sergeant Alexander Blackman, 42, had the conviction quashed by five judges at the Court Martial Appeal Court in London.

They replaced it with manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility.

There will now be a further hearing at a date to be fixed to decide on the sentence he now has to serve.

In September 2011, Sergeant Blackman took aim at the chest of a wounded Taliban fighter with his 9mm pistol and pulled the trigger, uttering the words: “Shuffle off this mortal coil you c***. It’s nothing you wouldn’t do to us.”

The killing was recorded by the helmet-mounted camera of a comrade and he was was convicted in November 2013 by a court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire, and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 10 years.

The minimum term was later reduced to eight years because of the combat stress disorder he was suffering from.

His wife Claire Blackman said she was "delighted" by the decision, saying it "much better reflects the circumstances that my husband found himself in during that terrible tour of Afghanistan".