The wife of a Royal Marine jailed three years ago for killing a Taliban insurgent has said that it would be the “best Christmas ever” if he was released.
Sergeant Alexander Blackman was given a life sentence at a court martial and told he must serve at least eight years following the incident in Helmand province in September 2011.
A bail application will be held at the High Court today. Four of his supporters will offer a total of £200,000 surety as they attempt to have him freed while he fights to have his conviction quashed. His full appeal will be heard next summer. Sergeant Blackman’s wife, Claire, said that they were “cautiously optimistic”.
She told the Daily Telegraph: “This time it’s very hard for him. A lot of lads are saying ‘You are going home, you are going home’, and he’s saying ‘Hang on, it’s not a foregone conclusion’. He hasn’t wanted to jinx anything.”
Sergeant Blackman is serving his sentence at Erlestoke prison in Wiltshire. The four supporters offering £50,000 each are Frederick Forsyth, the novelist, Richard Drax, an MP, Major General John Holmes and John Davies, a former Royal Marine.