Sergeant Blackman commanded ‘most dangerous square mile in Afghanistan’

Lawyer pleads for leniency for convicted Royal Marine who felt pressure of leadership amid ‘terrifying violence’ of positions ‘behind enemy lines’

The Royal Marine convicted of murdering a wounded Taliban insurgent had been brutalised by the horrors of war in the “most dangerous square mile in Afghanistan” and had become paranoid that he was always the one being shot at, a court martial has been told.

Sergeant Alexander Blackman and the young marines under his control were effectively working beyond enemy lines fighting insurgents that would have skinned them alive and beheaded them if they had captured them, his counsel told the court. He was tired and stressed, and also grieving following the death of his father just before his tour of Helmand began.

But Blackman’s counsel, Anthony Berry QC, told the board which will sentence him later that his overriding concern during the episode in which he shot dead the prisoner was safeguarding his own men and getting them back to base as quickly as possible.

Berry accepted that Blackman would be jailed for life and a minimum term of up to 30 years could be imposed – but he said it was also open to the board to jail him for just one day and asked for leniency. “The sentence should be so short that he can have a realistic anticipation of release in the not too distance future,” said Berry. “That is because of the genuine exceptional nature, the unique circumstances of the case.”

Blackman, 39, was convicted last month of shooting dead the prisoner who had been wounded in a helicopter strike. A video caught him telling the dying man: “There you are, shuffle off this mortal coil, you cunt. It’s nothing you wouldn’t do to us.” During the court martial Blackman was identified only as Marine A but the high court ruled on Thursday that he should be named following a challenge from the media, including the Guardian.

Berry began by reading extracts from yearly assessments of Blackman that showed his capacity for leadership was spotted early on his 15-year career.

Just before he was arrested a report described him as a mature team player with “heaps of potential”. Even as he waited for his court martial he was given glowing reports for his work training young marines in heavy weapons.

Berry went on to consider conditions in Helmand and what Blackman and his fellow marines were doing. As elite troops, they occupied frontline positions, effectively acting as a “lure” to Taliban fighters. He had 15 younger marines under his command and felt “immense” responsibility.

At the time of the murder in September 2011 the marines were frustrated. They faced long periods of “torpor” with temperatures of up to 50C making it hard to sleep – punctuated by what Berry called “intermittent periods of terrifying violence”.

“They were subject to the relentless fear of what might happen to them,” he said.

Blackman himself, as the men’s commander, kept himself “apart from the lads” and was often on his own and isolated. He felt “mentally drained”.

Berry quoted …read more