A Royal Marine jailed for the murder of a Taliban insurgent in Afghanistan let professional standards "slip" and showed "poor leadership", a review has found.
The Royal Navy internal review looked at events surrounding the shooting of the wounded captive by Sergeant Alexander Blackman in Helmand province in September 2011.
Blackman, 39, who was serving with Plymouth-based 42 Commando, quoted Shakespeare as he shot the man in the chest at close range.
He is serving an eight-year jail sentence after being convicted of murder by a Court Martial.
A redacted 12-page executive summary of the Navy's review says: "Sgt Blackman allowed professional standards to slip to an unacceptable low level.
"His poor leadership was a significant contributory factor in the way the insurgent was treated by other members of the patrol."
The review also says "moral disengagement" played a significant part in the way Sgt Blackman and his team behaved.
He had difficulty "changing from a mind-set which required him to kill an enemy to one which accepted having to administer first aid."
Footage from another marine's helmet-mounted camera showed Blackman blasting the Afghan prisoner with a 9mm pistol.
Blackman was then heard telling him: "There you are. Shuffle off this mortal coil... It's nothing you wouldn't do to us."
He then turned to comrades and said: "Obviously this doesn't go anywhere, fellas. I just broke the Geneva Convention."
During his trial at Bulford Court Martial Centre in Wiltshire two years ago, Blackman, from Taunton in Somerset, denied murder.
He said he believed the victim was already dead and he was taking out his anger on a corpse.
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar