Court to review UK marine’s conviction for Taliban murder

LONDON – A court will review a British Royal Marine’s murder conviction for killing a wounded Taliban fighter in Afghanistan.

Sgt. Alexander Blackman was convicted of murder by a military court in 2013 and sentenced to life for shooting the militant as he lay wounded in Helmand Province in September 2011.

Footage from another marine’s helmet camera showed Blackman shooting the militant in the chest at close range, then saying: “Obviously this doesn’t go anywhere, fellas. I just broke the Geneva Convention.”

Blackman said at his trial that he believed the man was already dead.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission said Wednesday that it had referred the conviction to the Courts Martial Appeal Court.

It said new evidence had emerged about Blackman’s mental health at the time of the killing.

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