Court names Royal Marines acquitted of Afghan insurgent’s murder

Corporal Christopher Watson and Marine Jack Hammond identified after court confirms lifting of anonymity order

Two Royal Marines who were acquitted of the murder of an injured insurgent in Afghanistan can be named for the first time as Corporal Christopher Glyn Watson and Marine Jack Alexander Hammond.

The release of their identities follows a ruling earlier this month by judges at the high court in London. It was confirmed by the court on Thursday that an anonymity order preventing publication of their names had been lifted.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, sitting with Mr Justice Tugendhat and Mr Justice Holroyde, announced on 5 December that an anonymity order should be lifted in the case of Sergeant Alexander Wayne Blackman, who was convicted of murder, and also in relation to the two acquitted servicemen.

Blackman, who is now serving a life sentence, was previously referred to as Marine A, while the acquitted men were known as Marines B and C.

Although the three judges said the names of Marines B and C should also be made public, their identities were not immediately revealed pending a possible move by their lawyers to take the issue to the supreme court, the UK’s highest court.

But the high court confirmed that no such application had been made within the set deadline and therefore the order preventing publication of their names had been discharged.

Watson was previously known as Marine B and Hammond as Marine C.

On 8 November a court martial board in Bulford, Wiltshire, found Blackman, 39, guilty of murdering the insurgent who had been seriously injured in an attack by an Apache helicopter in Helmand more than two years ago. Watson and Hammond were acquitted while charges against a further two servicemen had been discontinued earlier.

Following the conviction of Blackman – a hugely experienced Royal Marine who completed tours of Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland during his military career – Judge Advocate General Jeff Blackett ruled that the names of the three defendants and the two other servicemen should be made public.

Lawyers for the five challenged that decision at the high court, arguing that their lives would be at “real and immediate” risk if their names were released.

The question of naming the two marines against whom charges were discontinued, referred to as Marines D and E, will be the subject of a further hearing and the ban on naming them remains in force pending any further order by the Judge Advocate General.

In a written ruling explaining the reasons for the court’s 5 December decision, Lord Thomas emphasised the importance of open justice.

In the case of Blackman, Lord Thomas said the balance came “very firmly down on the side of open justice” and in relation to Marines B and C, “the public interest in open justice” was the same, adding: “It can make no difference that B and C were acquitted”.

In the cases of Marines B and C, Lord Thomas said: “The risk to these two marines was not immediate. They have returned to service. The MoD has taken steps to …read more