Murderer Danny Fitzsimons was not vetted properly by his employer, says coroner

Danny Fitzsimons was convicted of mudreing fellow security guards Paul McGuigan and Darren Hoare

Danny Fitzsimons, the security guard from Middleton who murdered two ex-servicemen, Paul McGuigan and Darren Hoare, in Iraq was not vetted properly by his employer, ArmorGroup, a coroner said.

Fitzsimons, who shot dead Mr McGuigan and Mr Hoare within 24 hours of his arrival in Baghdad in 2009, after ArmorGroup employed him, is serving a 20-year jail term in Baghdad.

Another security guard, Kevin Milsom, told the hearing how the men were drinking and exchanged "banter" about their former regiments before Fitzsimons and Mr McGuigan, a former Royal Marine, squared up to each other.

Mr Milsom said he then stepped in to calm things down, before returning to bed and falling asleep drunk.

Shots were then heard in the night, and Mr Milsom was woken in the morning by a colleague, who said: "Your mate has just killed two of our blokes."

The coroner has ruled Mr McGuigan, from Peebles in the Scottish borders, was unlawfully killed.

The inquest, which began in September last year, heard Fitzsimons had a history of criminal offences and there were ongoing proceedings against him at the time he travelled to Iraq.

Coroner Joanne Kearsley described the ex-paratrooper as a "highly manipulative individual" who had provided inaccurate information to his employers.

However, his documentation was not checked by the G4S-owned firm, nor did human resources staff check to make sure they had all the relevant paperwork, she said.

A steroid user, described as violent and unpredictable, especially when drunk, Fitzsimons held extreme racist views, and according to one doctor's assessment only showed any excitement when talking about involvement in football hooliganism and firing guns.

In pages of writings recovered by police from his home, he had written: "I have lived a life of violence. Any chance I have to do someone I will take it."

After the inquest verdict, a spokesman for G4S said Mr McGuigan's death had come as "a profound shock" and offered "sincerest sympathies" to his family.

He said: "Industry standards for the recruitment of private security operators in high-threat environments have advanced significantly in the years following this tragic incident. G4S has played a key role in promoting those changes.

"G4S takes the safety of our employees and the people in our care extremely seriously and we operate rigorous recruitment processes. We will continue to advocate for the adoption of the highest possible industry standards in the screening and vetting for armed security roles."

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