The Security Guard Jailed for Murder in Iraq
Discussion
I'm surprised I can't easily find a thread about this story
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12...
I'm amazed that this man is being given so much airtime to claim injustice.
FFS he shot 2 colleagues at close range and claimed self defence. It reads more like an act of retalliation. He's been properly convicted of murder and the mitigation of PTSD means that he has avoided the death penalty. So where is the injustice?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12...
I'm amazed that this man is being given so much airtime to claim injustice.
FFS he shot 2 colleagues at close range and claimed self defence. It reads more like an act of retalliation. He's been properly convicted of murder and the mitigation of PTSD means that he has avoided the death penalty. So where is the injustice?
BBC said:
"A British security guard has been sentenced to 20 years in jail after being convicted by an Iraqi court of murdering two colleagues.
The former paratrooper, who feared being hanged, said he had been suffering from post-traumatic stress at the time of the killings.
Fitzsimons claimed he was acting in self-defence after a fight broke out, asking the judges to consider a plea agreement which would convict him on lesser manslaughter charges.
Fitzsimons and his victims, Mr McGuigan and Mr Hoare had all been working for British security firm ArmorGroup, based in the Iraqi capital's fortified Green Zone, at the time of the shooting.
Within 36 hours of arriving in the capital, he would kill Paul McGuigan, from Peebles in the Scottish Borders, and Australian Darren Hoare, both 37, after a drunken row.
Mr McGuigan, a former Royal Marines commando, had a son and was about to become a father for a second time.
Father-of-three Mr Hoare, from Queensland, had served in Iraq in the Royal Australian Air Force before becoming a private security contractor.
At the centre of the murder trial was Fitzsimons' account that he acted in self-defence after being pinned down and beaten up.
The claim has been fiercely denied by Mr McGuigan's family.
They say a post-mortem examination of the two dead men showed they had been shot at close range with no signs of injuries caused by a fight.
Mr McGuigan's mother, Corinne Boyd-Russell, said her son's killer had shown no remorse.
In a written statement, she said: "Everybody is responsible for their own actions and even if Danny Fitzsimons did have PTSD, it should not be used as an excuse."
The former paratrooper, who feared being hanged, said he had been suffering from post-traumatic stress at the time of the killings.
Fitzsimons claimed he was acting in self-defence after a fight broke out, asking the judges to consider a plea agreement which would convict him on lesser manslaughter charges.
Fitzsimons and his victims, Mr McGuigan and Mr Hoare had all been working for British security firm ArmorGroup, based in the Iraqi capital's fortified Green Zone, at the time of the shooting.
Within 36 hours of arriving in the capital, he would kill Paul McGuigan, from Peebles in the Scottish Borders, and Australian Darren Hoare, both 37, after a drunken row.
Mr McGuigan, a former Royal Marines commando, had a son and was about to become a father for a second time.
Father-of-three Mr Hoare, from Queensland, had served in Iraq in the Royal Australian Air Force before becoming a private security contractor.
At the centre of the murder trial was Fitzsimons' account that he acted in self-defence after being pinned down and beaten up.
The claim has been fiercely denied by Mr McGuigan's family.
They say a post-mortem examination of the two dead men showed they had been shot at close range with no signs of injuries caused by a fight.
Mr McGuigan's mother, Corinne Boyd-Russell, said her son's killer had shown no remorse.
In a written statement, she said: "Everybody is responsible for their own actions and even if Danny Fitzsimons did have PTSD, it should not be used as an excuse."
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