A hugely experienced Royal Marine who completed tours of Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland during his military career faces a life sentence for murder after he was yesterday named publicly for the first time.
Sergeant Alexander Wayne Blackman, whose identity was revealed following a ruling by leading judges at the High Court in London, will learn his fate for killing an injured insurgent in Afghanistan.
The 39-year-old was found guilty on November 8 by a court martial board in Bulford, Wiltshire, of murdering the man - who had been seriously injured in an attack by an Apache helicopter - in Helmand more than two years ago.
The killing was captured on a camera mounted on the helmet of another serviceman, known as Marine B.
Blackman had 15 years' experience in the Royal Marines, having joined in 1998, and was in charge of Command Post Omar in Helmand province during Operation Herrick 14 in 2011.
He was considered a safe pair of hands by superiors and, at 6ft 3in, a physically imposing Marine who always led from the front.
An expert in heavy weapons, including machine guns, he was credited with building good relations with the local population and was friendly with a mullah who lived close to CP Omar.
His role in Afghanistan also included taking part in shuras - meetings with community leaders and elders.
Before a video of the murder came to light, Blackman was being considered for promotion to Colour Sergeant.
He shot the insurgent in the chest but said he believed the victim was already dead and he was taking out his anger on a corpse. He has said he felt ashamed at his lack of self-control, describing it as "a stupid lack of self-control and lapse in judgment".
Previously known as Marine A, his name was disclosed following a ruling by Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, Mr Justice Tugendhat and Mr Justice Holroyde, which lifted an anonymity order preventing him being identified.
They also announced that two acquitted servicemen should be named, but their identities will not be released pending a possible move by their lawyers to take the issue on to the Supreme Court, the UK's highest court.
The question of the naming of two other Marines, against whom charges were discontinued, will be the subject of a further hearing.
Lawyers for the five Marines challenged an order that lifted anonymity following the conviction of Blackman - Judge Advocate General Jeff Blackett ruled that the names of the three defendants and the two other servicemen should be identified publicly.
The judges' decision followed a hearing last week during which argument was made on behalf of the servicemen that their lives would be at "real and immediate" risk if their names were released.
The murder happened five months into an arduous six-month tour of Helmand province in 2011, known as Operation Herrick 14.
As the unknown insurgent lies on the floor convulsing and struggling for breath, Sergeant Blackman tells him: "There you are. Shuffle off this mortal coil you c***. It's nothing you wouldn't do to us."
During his evidence at the court martial Blackman, who denied murder, confirmed he was telling the truth about believing the insurgent to be dead and agreed that the shooting was a "spur of the moment decision because of pent-up emotions".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article