A British Royal Marine who killed an injured Afghan prisoner is a “John Wayne” type character who did not realise he had a mental illness at the time of the incident, a court has heard.
Sgt Alexander Blackman is appealing against his 2013 conviction for murder and his eight-year minimum sentence. The appeal hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice began on Tuesday in a courtroom filled with Blackman’s supporters, including many veterans wearing military medals. Protesters demanding that Blackman be freed demonstrated outside the building.
In his opening argument, Jonathan Goldberg QC, representing Blackman, said he would be presenting evidence from three psychiatrists that the marine was suffering from mental illness at the time of the September 2011 killing in Afghanistan.
“It’s a recognised fact of all mental illness that a lot of those who are mentally ill do not recognise any symptoms in themselves and so it is with Blackman,” said Goldberg. “Mr Blackman’s nature is to be very reserved. He’s a John Wayne character.”
He said Blackman was a “macho” person who would not have wanted to show any sign of weakness.
Goldberg said the appellant had been faced with a “ruthless, independent and cunning enemy” – the Taliban – which regularly attacked British troops. He described Camp Omar, where Blackman was stationed, as a “most austere and difficult posting” with no padre, and said patrols were carried out in heavy protective clothing in 122F (50C) heat.
Goldberg said Blackman and colleagues had the “almost impossible task to win the hearts and minds of the local civilian population, but the local population could not be distinguished from the Taliban”.
Such was the attrition rate within Blackman’s unit, with seven people killed and 45 seriously injured, that there was a one in 17 chance of death or life-changing injury.
Among those who died was a young lieutenant, Oliver Augustin, whom Blackman had mentored. Blackman himself had narrowly escaped a grenade attack, “which must surely have left mental scars”, the court heard.
Goldberg said Blackman, whom he described as a “superb soldier”, was suffering from an adjustment disorder, which typically lasts six months and would have substantially impaired his ability to exercise rational judgment and self-control.
“That would have impacted on his ability to know whether the insurgent was or was not alive at the time,” said Goldberg.
The first expert witness for Blackman, Neil Greenberg, a professor of defence mental health at King’s College London, said that given Blackman’s previous exemplary record and behaviour, there was “no other explanation” for his behaviour on the day in question other than that he was suffering from adjustment disorder.
Greenberg, who previously served in the armed forces and has been to Afghanistan as a psychiatrist, said a friend of Blackman’s when asked about the marine’s state of mind in the run-up to and after the shooting described him as “a husk of his former self”.
Blackman’s wife recalled him looking at the ground for signs of bombs while on a break in the UK. On another occasion, when in the US, Blackman jumped under a seat in a theatre on hearing a loud bang, she said.
As well as arguing that Blackman was suffering from diminished responsibility at the time of the killing, Goldberg’s other arguments are that the lesser offence of unlawful act manslaughter should have been considered by the court martial and that Blackman’s previous legal team was incompetent.
Blackman appeared via videolink, speaking only to confirm his name and that he could hear proceedings. His wife, Claire, was present at the court.
Referring to publicity surrounding the case – the Daily Mail started a public fund to pay Blackman’s legal fees and tens of thousands of people have signed a petition in support of him – Richard Whittam QC, for the Service Prosecuting Authority, stressed he was “not attacking the behaviour and professionalism of our troops”.
He said the onus was on Blackman’s legal team to show that the marine had been suffering from mental illness that “substantially impaired the ability to either understand the nature of his conduct, to form rational judgment or exercise self-control”.
At Whittam’s instruction, the court was shown graphic footage of the insurgent’s body being dragged along the ground and the moment Blackman shot the injured Afghan prisoner, which was captured on another marine’s helmet-mounted camera.
The insurgent’s body convulsed after being shot and Blackman could be heard saying: “There you are. Shuffle off this mortal coil, you cunt. It’s nothing you wouldn’t do to us.”
He then turned to comrades and said: “Obviously this doesn’t go anywhere, fellas. I just broke the Geneva convention.”
Whittam said: “In moving the insurgent from the centre of the field so it couldn’t be seen by the overhead camera, that was a rational judgment.”
Even if the judges accepted the alternative explanation that the body was moved because of fear of further insurgent attacks, that was still a rational decision by Blackman, casting doubt over the argument that he was suffering from mental illness at the time, said Whittam.
But Greenberg said that planning was entirely consistent with adjustment disorder.
The second expert witness for the defence, Dr Philip Joseph, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, said if the killing was not a result of mental illness then it was a “cold, callous action which would be very much out of character”.
The five judges could quash the conviction and order a new court martial or substitute the conviction for murder with one of manslaughter and impose a new sentence.
Blackman was initially sentenced to life with a minimum term of 10 years, which was later reduced to eight years on appeal.
The hearing is expected to last up to three days.
