Danny Fitzsimons was deployed to Iraq without ‘several checks’

Danny Fitzsimons

The woman responsible for hiring Danny Fitzsimons as a security guard was “naïve” not to check what turned out to be a forged medical certificate, an inquest has heard.

Fitzsimons, a former Paratrooper from Middleton shot dead his colleagues Paul McGuigan and Darren Hoare in 2009.

He is currently serving a 20 year prison sentence in Baghdad after being spared the death penalty.

An inquest into the death of Mr McGuigan, currently ongoing in Stockport, has heard that G4S international recruitment manager Rebecca Walker allowed Fitzsimons to be deployed without several checks.

Ms Walker told the inquest that she had interviewed Fitzsimons for the job in July 2009. She said that normal procedure would have seen a successful candidate vetted before being deployed.

Ms Walker said that Fitzsimons had come across as engaging, smart and professional in his interview.

She was then shown an email dated on the day of his interview which showed a deployment date of early August.

Ms Walker accepted that Fitzsimons was deployed to Iraq without up-to-date references, no Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check and with a forged medical certificate.

She also admitted that with hindsight, she had been “naïve” not to have checked the medical certificate with the doctor who was supposed to have signed it.

During his trial in 2011, Fitzsimons told an Iraqi court that he had been suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and claimed that he acted in self defence after a fight broke out.

The inquest continues.

http://rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/87383/convictedmurderer-danny-fitzsimons-was-not-vetted-properly-investigation-reveals