2011 Helmand Province killing

[6] On 6 December 2013, Blackman was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of ten years,[7] and dismissed with disgrace from the Royal Marines.

[11] During the campaign to free him, the Criminal Cases Review Commission concluded that Alexander Blackman's defence team fell "way below the standard expected".

Given his prior exemplary conduct, we have concluded that it was the combination of the stressors, the other matters to which we have referred and his adjustment disorder that substantially impaired his ability to form a rational judgment.

[17] Blackman ordered Marine B and C to stop administering first aid to the insurgent[2] and eventually shot the man in the chest with a 9 mm pistol,[8][17] saying: "Shuffle off this mortal coil, you cunt.

[3] The military trial of Marines A, B and C, protected from view in court behind a screen because of an anonymity order,[3] began on 23 October 2013[2] and lasted two weeks.

[23] UK newspaper The Guardian reported that, "Outside court Blackman's wife, Claire, who has led the campaign to free the former sergeant, said she was delighted by the result saying it 'much better reflected the circumstances that [her] husband found himself in during that terrible tour of Afghanistan'.

[3] Blackman's guilty verdict led to a showing of public support for the Marine, with people creating social media groups and online petitions asking that he be given a lenient sentence or calling for his release.

[7][19] In November 2013, Colonel Oliver Lee OBE, commanding officer of 45 Commando during Operation Herrick 14, resigned in protest at the narrowness of Blackman's court martial and his being prevented from giving evidence to it.

[33] On 28 October 2015, the Ministry of Defence banned a large number of serving soldiers from attending a rally in support of Sergeant Blackman, saying that the event was a "political protest".

However, lawyers representing the rally organisers stated that, rather, the event was "a show of support to one of our fellow Royal Marines and not a 'political protest'".

[34][35] A related online petition to the government raised over 100,000 signatures calling for Blackman's immediate release, stating that the soldier had been condemned for defending his country.

Within hours of the MoD's decision Michael Fallon, Minister for Defence, put out a government statement saying that the UK would maintain military operations in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future.