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A Royal Marine found guilty of murdering an injured Afghan fighter failed to overturn his conviction yesterday.
Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, Sir Brian Leveson and Lady Justice Hallett rejected the bid by Sergeant Alexander Blackman to have the murder charge quashed at the Court Martial Appeal Court in London.
However, the court did allow a sentence appeal, reducing his 10-year minimum term to eight years.
Mr Blackman was convicted last November of the 2011 murder, which took place while he was in the Plymouth-based 42 Commando unit.
He was also “dismissed with disgrace” from the army.
Lawyers representing Blackman had argued that his conviction was “unsafe” and his sentence was “manifestly excessive.”
Mr Blackman executed the injured insurgent at close range, shooting him in the chest, and was recorded by a colleague’s helmet camera saying: “There you are. Shuffle off this mortal coil, you c***. It’s nothing you wouldn’t do to us.”
