The 2011 Helmand Province killing was the

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

of a wounded

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric warfare, asymmetric na ...

by Alexander Blackman, which occurred on 15 September 2011. Three

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

, known during their trial as Marines A, B, and C, were anonymously tried by

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

. On 8 November 2013, Marines B and C were acquitted, but Blackman (Marine A) was initially found guilty of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

of the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

insurgent, in contravention of section 42 of the

Armed Forces Act 2006 The Armed Forces Act 2006 (c 52) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It came into force on 31 October 2006. It replaces the three separate Service Discipline Acts (the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 and the Naval Discipli ...

. This made him the first British soldier to be convicted of a battlefield murder whilst serving abroad since the Second World War. On 6 December 2013, Blackman was sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

with a

minimum term Mandatory sentencing requires that offenders serve a predefined term for certain crimes, commonly serious and violent offenses. Judges are bound by law; these sentences are produced through the legislature, not the judicial system. They are inst ...

of ten years, and dismissed with disgrace from the Royal Marines. On 22 May 2014, the Courts Martial Appeal Court reduced his minimum term to eight years. This led to a campaign by the Armed Forces community to have his conviction overturned, led by Claire Blackman and the MP for

South Dorset South Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Richard Drax, a Conservative. The constituency was created as a consequence of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, although the area cover ...

Richard Drax Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (born 29 January 1958) is a British Conservative politician, journalist and landowner, serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dorset since 2010. Early life Drax was born on 29 January 1958 ...

. During the campaign to free him, the Criminal Cases Review Commission concluded that Alexander Blackman's defence team fell "way below the standard expected". At the subsequent appeal hearing in 2017, the conviction was overturned and the hearing stated that "At the time of the killing the patrol remained under threat from other insurgents ... Given his prior exemplary conduct, we have concluded that it was the combination of the stressors, the other matters to which we have referred and his adjustment disorder that substantially impaired his ability to form a rational judgment." In March 2017, the conviction for murder was overturned and reduced to

on the grounds of

diminished responsibility In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental f ...

. Blackman was released from prison on 28 April 2017 but his dismissal from the Marines remains in place.

Incident

The incident took place in

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (, '' wilåyat''). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primar ...

during

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assis ...

14, part of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

effort in the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

. Blackman, of J company,

42 Commando 42 Commando (42 Cdo) (pronounced as Four-Two Commando) is a subordinate unit within the Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade. Based at Bickleigh Barracks near Plymouth, personnel regularly deploy outside the United Kingdom on operations or training. ...

, was part of a Marine patrol that came across an Afghan fighter in a field wounded by

Apache helicopter The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night visi ...

gunfire. Blackman ordered the Afghan to be moved out of sight of the Kestrel surveillance system, a camera on a balloon above British

Forward Operating Base A forward operating base (FOB) is any secured forward Operational level of war, operational level military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support strategic goals and tactical objectives. A FOB may or may not contain an airfi ...

Shazad,

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

, covering the area Blackman's patrol had been sent to. Video evidence played at the Marines' subsequent trial shows some of the patrol dragging the man across the field and then kicking him. Blackman ordered Marine B and C to stop administering

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

to the insurgent and eventually shot the man in the chest with a 9 mm

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

, saying: "Shuffle off this mortal coil, you

cunt ''Cunt'' () is a vulgar word for the vulva or vagina. It is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. Reflecting national variations, ''cunt'' can be used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United Stat ...

. It's nothing you wouldn't do to us." He then added: "I just broke the

Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...

Criminal trial, appeals, and sentencing

After the 15 September incident, Blackman continued with his tour of duty, leaving Helmand Province in late October 2011. On 13 October 2012, at the decision of the Service Prosecution Authority, Marines A–E were

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

d with the murder of the unnamed Afghan insurgent. The lead came after British civilian police discovered suspicious video footage on a serviceman's laptop. Marines D and E had charges against them dropped on 5 February 2013. Marines A, B and C first appeared in court in August 2013, where they entered a not-guilty

plea In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a criminal case under common law using the adversarial system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response ...

. The military trial of Marines A, B and C, protected from view in court behind a screen because of an anonymity order, began on 23 October 2013 and lasted two weeks. Their Court Martial board (equivalent to a jury in the civilian justice system) was seven members strong, instead of the five used for less serious cases. The

verdict In law, a verdict is the formal trier of fact, finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In Engl ...

(8 November 2013) and sentence (6 December 2013) were both delivered at the Military Court Centre in

Bulford Bulford is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, close to Salisbury Plain. The village is close to Durrington and about north of the town of Amesbury. The Bulford Camp army base is separate from the village but within the parish. ...

, Wiltshire. The judge advocate (the civilian judge heading the panel at a Court Martial) was Judge Advocate General

Jeff Blackett Jeffrey Blackett (born 20 May 1955) is a British former judge and Royal Navy officer with the rank of Commodore. He was Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces from 2004 to 2020 and among the cases over which he presided was that of "Marine A". ...

. The verdict carried with it a mandatory life sentence, so it was only in the judge advocate's and Court Martial board's power to decide on the minimum sentence once the board had found Blackman guilty. He was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison. On 22 May 2014, at the Courts Martial Appeal Court, its most senior judge,

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

Lord Thomas, upheld the life sentence, but reduced Blackman's minimum term to 8 years. In December 2016 Blackman was denied

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

pending a second appeal due to be heard by the Court Martial Appeal Court (CMAC). On 15 March 2017, the CMAC reduced the conviction to manslaughter on the grounds of

. UK newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' reported that, "Outside court Blackman's wife, Claire, who has led the campaign to free the former sergeant, said she was delighted by the result saying it 'much better reflected the circumstances that erhusband found himself in during that terrible tour of Afghanistan'." On 28 March 2017, Blackman was given a 7-year sentence for manslaughter with diminished responsibility, but was given credit for

time served In criminal law, time served is an informal term that describes the duration of pretrial detention (remand), the time period between when a defendant is arrested and when they are convicted. Time served does not include time served on bail but ...

, and was freed on 28 April 2017.

Anonymity orders

London Royal Courts of Justice 501523 h000008

Running in parallel to the Marines' criminal trial were legal proceedings relating to the anonymity of the defendants. In the autumn of 2012, Judges Advocate Elsom and Blackett issued anonymity orders for the Marine defendants due to the risk that, once named, the defendants would become targets for terrorists. The move had been opposed by elements of the UK media. A lawyer for the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...

argued that anonymity orders should not be issued in this case because British

military award Military awards and decorations are distinctions given as a mark of honor for military heroism, meritorious or outstanding service or achievement. DoD Manual 1348.33, 2010, Vol. 3 A decoration is often a medal consisting of a ribbon and a medal ...

recipients named in the media had not been previously targeted; and that the names of those British service personnel investigated following the

death of Baha Mousa Baha Mousa was an Iraqi man who died while in British Army custody in Basra, Iraq, in September 2003. The inquiry into his death found that Mousa's death was caused by "factors including lack of food and water, heat, exhaustion, fear, previous inju ...

had not been similarly protected. The 2012 anonymity orders were upheld at the beginning of the trial in October 2013. On 5 December 2013,

Lord Thomas and two other High Court judges lifted the existing anonymity order on Marine A, allowing him to be named as

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Alexander Wayne Blackman. The same ruling had it that the identities of Marines B and C also be revealed unless they submit an appeal to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. No such appeal was lodged within the set deadline, and so, on 19 December 2013, Marine B was named as Corporal Christopher Glyn Watson and Marine C was named as Marine Jack Alexander Hammond. The anonymity of Marines D and E was upheld on 19 December "pending any further order by the Judge Advocate General". Blackett also restricted public access to the evidence used at the trial, releasing on 8 November stills, audio clips and transcripts from the serviceman's video that was played to the Court Martial board, but ruling that the full video itself not be released, since doing so "would increase the threat of harm to British service personnel." On 5 December 2013, the Court Martial Appeal Court upheld the earlier decisions prohibiting the release of the video footage of the attack and some of the stills from it. The Court stated, however, that the prohibition was to prevent the material being used for

radicalisation Radicalization (or radicalisation) is the process by which an individual or a group comes to adopt increasingly views in opposition to a political, social, or religious status quo. The ideas of society at large shape the outcomes of radicalizat ...

, rather than it posing a risk to the life of the defendants.

Reactions

The legal proceedings relating to the Marines received widespread public and media attention in the UK. Reacting to Blackman's guilty verdict, Royal Marines

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Bill Dunham Brigadier (United Kingdom), Brigadier Mark William Dunham (born 1961) is a retired Royal Marines officer who served as the Deputy Commandant General Royal Marines, Commandant General. He was born in Lincolnshire in 1961. References

1961 b ...

called the murder a "shocking and appalling aberration" that was "not consistent with the ethos, values and standards of the Royal Marines", but was nevertheless an "isolated incident".

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Mike Jackson said he was "saddened" by the case. Blackman's guilty verdict led to a showing of public support for the Marine, with people creating

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

groups and online petitions asking that he be given a lenient sentence or calling for his release. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' supported one

Change.org Change.org is a worldwide nonprofit petition website, based in California, US, operated by the San Francisco-based company of the same name, which has over 400 million users and offers the public the ability to promote the petitions they care abo ...

petition for leniency. When Blackman was sentenced to life imprisonment with a tariff of 10 years,

Sir

Nick Houghton General John Nicholas Reynolds Houghton, Baron Houghton of Richmond, ( ; born 18 October 1954) is a retired senior British Army officer and former Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) of the British Armed Forces. He was appointed CDS in July 2013, ...

called his actions a "heinous crime" and commented that "murder is murder". By contrast, Blackman's commanding officer,

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Simon Chapman,

, said in a letter read to the court that Blackman had had a "momentary ... lapse of judgment" and was "not a bad man", and added that Blackman had his "full support". Blackman himself said in a statement that he was "devastated" and "very sorry for any damage caused to the Royal Marines". In November 2013

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Oliver Lee OBE, commanding officer of

45 Commando 45 Commando Royal Marines (pronounced "four-five commando") is a battalion sized unit of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of th ...

during Operation Herrick 14, resigned in protest at the narrowness of Blackman's Court Martial and his being prevented from giving evidence to it. Lee went on to give evidence at the Court Martial Appeal Court in 2017 where Blackman's conviction was reduced from murder to manslaughter. On 28 October 2015, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

banned a large number of serving soldiers from attending a rally in support of Sergeant Blackman, saying that the event was a "political protest". However, lawyers representing the rally organisers stated that, rather, the event was "a show of support to one of our fellow Royal Marines and not a 'political protest". A related online petition to the government raised over 100,000 signatures calling for Blackman's immediate release, stating that the soldier had been condemned for defending his country. Within hours of the MoD's decision

Michael Fallon Sir Michael Cathel Fallon (born 14 May 1952) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2014 to 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sevenoaks from 1997 to 2019, h ...

, Minister for Defence, put out a government statement saying that the UK would maintain military operations in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future.

References

External links

R -v- Sergeant Alexander Wayne Blackman and Secretary of State for Defence
Courts Martial Appeal Court, 22 May 2014
R -v- Marines A, B, C, D & E
Court Martial Appeal Court and Divisional Court of The Queen's Bench Division, 19 December 2013
R -v- Marines A, B, C, D & E
Court Martial Appeal Court and Divisional Court of The Queen's Bench Division, 17 December 2013
R -v- Sergeant Alexander Wayne Blackman
sentencing remarks of HHJ

, Judge Advocate General, 6 December 2013
R -v- Marines A, B, C, D & E
Court Martial Appeal Court and Divisional Court of The

Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...