Sgt Alexander Blackman released from prison TONIGHT

Sgt Alexander Blackman, released, from ,prison, TONIGHT



Alexander Blackman - better known as Marine A - will be released from jail tonight or early tomorrow, it was revealed today.

Sgt Blackman will finally leave Erlestoke jail in Wiltshire and finally be reunited with his wife Claire, who has led his campaign for justice wince he was jailed in 2013.

But the military police plan to take him away hidden in a car to stop the press capturing the moment he walks free, it has been claimed.

Author Frederick Forsyth, who helped lead his campaign for freedom, admitted his secret release was like something from one of his spy novels.

He told the Guardian: 'The establishment wants to spirit him out in the middle of the night to a secret location. If I wrote this in a book people would say that’s just not the way things are done in Britain. But it is these days.'

The former marine has offered his ‘profound and heartfelt’ thanks to Daily Mail readers for their support.

The Royal Marine declared himself stunned and overwhelmed with gratitude to those who had campaigned for justice after military top brass left him to rot in prison.

Judges slashed his sentence for killing a Taliban fighter and as the momentous decision was announced, Sergeant Blackman’s wife Claire shed tears of joy.

Inside and outside court Royal Marines cheered and punched the air last month.



It sealed a stunning victory for the campaign for justice for Sgt Blackman – called Marine A during his military trial – who was jailed for life in 2013 for killing the insurgent in Afghanistan in 2011.

Daily Mail readers raised £810,000 to fund a fresh appeal that led to Sgt Blackman’s conviction being reduced from murder to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.

Five Appeal Court judges led by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, accepted he had been suffering from combat stress. They cut his sentence to seven years, of which he will serve half.

As he has already served almost three and a half years and is to be released in the early hours of Friday morning.



He was previously serving life with a minimum of eight years – the equivalent of a 16-year sentence.

Sgt Blackman, 42, said earlier this month: ‘My profound and heartfelt thanks go to the Daily Mail’s readers.

‘Without them we wouldn’t be anywhere near this today. I am honestly struggling to find words of gratitude that are deep enough to describe the Mail readers who came to my aid. I am just stunned and overwhelmed by their generosity.

‘I am so relieved and happy with the results. It could have been a lot worse, and I was braced for the worst.

‘My heart sank when the judge started talking about my current sentence being the equivalent of 16 years, and I thought it was somehow leading to a larger sentence. I just felt a profound sense of relief when they said seven.’

Outside court, Mrs Blackman, 45, said: ‘This is the moment that we have all been fighting hard for. It’s hard to believe that this day is finally here.’



A Mail investigation had revealed vital evidence was ‘deliberately withheld’ from the court martial during Sgt Blackman’s original trial.

Thriller writer Frederick Forsyth, who was in court yesterday, said the ‘villains’ who locked up Sgt Blackman should ‘hang their heads in shame’. As well as the murder stain being lifted from his character, Sgt Blackman’s dismissal ‘with disgrace’ from the Royal Marines – which his wife had said was the most cruel part of his punishment – has also been reduced to simply dismissal.

The judges said Sgt Blackman – who admits doing wrong – still bore heavy responsibility for the killing in Helmand Province. But they found the incident was not a ‘cold-blooded execution’.

The Commandant General of the Royal Marines, Major General Robert Magowan, said it was time to ‘move forward’ from the Blackman episode. He said the Marines would continue to support Sgt Blackman and his wife.