Ex-soldier’s murder case adjourned

The trial of a British security contractor and former paratrooper accused of murdering two colleagues in Iraq has been adjourned for two months.

Middleton man Danny Fitzsimons is charged with shooting dead fellow ArmorGroup employees Paul McGuigan and Darren Hoare, both 37, in Baghdad’s high–security Green Zone in August last year.

Fitzsimons could face the death penalty if he is convicted of their murders.

The 30-year-old is being held in a cell in the Green Zone.

He appeared at the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad for a pre–trial hearing yesterday.

Legal charity Reprieve, which is supporting him, said his case was adjourned until June 13 so he could be examined by experts at Baghdad’s Al Rashad psychiatric hospital.

The ex–soldier’s family says he is suffering from post–traumatic stress disorder as a result of his experiences serving with the Army in the former Yugoslavia and as a private security guard in Iraq.

Fitzsimons admitted to The Guardian last month that he shot Mr McGuigan, a former Royal Marine from Peebles, Scotland, three times in the chest before killing Mr Hoare, a former Royal Australian Air Force serviceman from Queensland, in a scuffle over a pistol. He claims he acted in self defence during a drunken fight, but Mr McGuigan’s family dispute this account.

Fitzsimons said in a statement issued through Reprieve: “I miss my family very much but I’m grateful for the support I have been getting from home, particularly from my former comrades who know a bit about what we all went through.

“I know that this has been a tragedy and hurt a lot of people besides myself.”

His family have said Danny was a damaged individual who should never have been given a job as an armed security guard in Iraq.

Father Eric (61) and stepmother Liz Fitzsimons (55), who live in Whitworth, Rochdale, have been fighting to bring him home so he can serve any sentence, if convicted, in Britain.

The couple, who both work as PE teachers at Newbridge School, Failsworth, travelled to London last month for a meeting with Justice Minister Jack Straw’s private secretary, constituency MP Jim Dobbin, representatives from Reprieve and their Iraqi lawyer.

They also had a separate meeting with the Foreign Office to discuss the trial.

Mrs Fitzsimons said: “They were long meetings but I felt we were supported and they were taking notice of what we said. Jim Dobbin has been great and has helped us along the way.”

She fears its could take a year for the Iraqi courts to hear the evidence, give a verdict and sentence Danny.

Liz said: “We just want the court case to start, it is the waiting that is difficult for both us and Danny.”