Marine Who Murdered Afghan Fighter Is Named

Sgt Alexander Blackman was filmed on a fellow soldier's helmet camera shooting the injured insurgent at close range. 12:27pm UK, Thursday 05 December 2013

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MoD statement: Afghan murder a 'truly shocking aberration'

Following the guilty verdict in the court martial of a serviceman charged with murder, Brigadier Bill Dunham, Deputy Commandant General of the Royal Marines, says the murder of an Afghan soldier by a marine "should not have happened and it should never happen again" 4:20PM GMT 08 Nov 2013

One of Britain's highest ranking Royal Marines has branded the cold-blooded execution of an injured Afghan insurgent as "truly shocking and appalling".

Brigadier Bill Dunham spoke out after a commando was convicted of murdering the seriously wounded prisoner in Helmand Province two years ago.

A court martial board found the serviceman, known only as Marine A, guilty of murder following a two-week trial at the military court centre in Bulford, Wiltshire.

Two others, known only as Marines B and C, were acquitted of the same charge, contrary to Section 42 of the Armed Forces Act 2006, by the seven-strong board.

Brigadier Dunham said: "It is a matter of profound regret in this isolated incident that one marine failed to apply his training and discharge his responsibilities.

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"What we have heard over the last two weeks is not consistent with the ethos, values and standards of the Royal Marines.

"It was a truly shocking and appalling aberration. It should not have happened and it should never happen again."

During the trial, the court martial heard the marines were on patrol in a "kinetic" area of Afghanistan on September 15 2011 when they discovered the insurgent lying seriously injured in a field.

Marine A directed his comrades to move the man, an Afghan national, into a wooded area before shooting him at close range in the centre of his chest.

As the man convulsed on the grount, Marine A told him: "There you are. Shuffle off this mortal coil, you c

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