Should Marine A be in prison

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Do I think he deserves prison for murder? Yes I do. Do I understand why he did it? Yes I do. From what I have read they were operating in a providence of Afghanistan know as "Death Valley". The fighting was intense. Their unit had taken over twenty causalities. The Taliban had hung the limbs of the marines injured in IED attacks in trees to taunt them.

So they find one of the perpetrators severely wounded after an attack. He's filthy, and covered in his own blood. Now they are expected to expose themselves to TB, hepatitis, or whatever other diseases this terrorist has, in order to provide him aid. Then they have haul this terrorist off the battlefield. Imagine how hard it is to carry a person a kilometer over uneven terrain while wearing body armor and battle gear. Don't forget this is someone who hung their mates limbs in trees.

I hope he get's to keep his anonymity. I hope he gets out of prison eventually, and recovers his life as much his circumstances and conscience will permit.

you do not know if the murder victim had taken part in the alleged limb hanging...
Marines are supposed to be super fit & enjoy yomping around carrying heavy loads... if they did not want to carry the guy to safety they could call in a helicopter...

Reply 61

InconspicuousGuy

Without a shadow of doubt yes

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Reply 62

thunder_chunky

I support the military, generally speaking and I give all members of the military the benefit of the doubt but I think he should. Apart from disagreeing with what he did I think it would then mean we can say "yes we do punish our own for wrong doings" and it will mean the idiots that try to use that to generalise about the military will have less ground.

Reply 63

L i b

Original post by Sammy Lanka

Out of interest what is the law regarding witness a crime then. I ask because i cannot believe that there is legislation stating that you can do nothing to stop a crime and then not even report it

In the general run of things, there is absolutely no incumbency on you to report a crime. There are exceptions - the crime of misprision of treason simply involves failing to report knowledge of treasons being committed.

To be prosecuted for an omission to act requires a legal duty upon you to act. This only arises in very few situations - for example, if you have created a problem (eg, if your negligence has caused a fire and you do not take reasonable steps to address the danger), or where you have taken on a duty yourself, or in limited circumstances such as a parent having to take care of their children.

It's a matter of individual liberty as much as anything. You don't get duties placed upon you because someone else has done something wrong. Imagine if we started prosecuting beaten wives for a failure to report assaults on them or things of that nature.

EDIT: Just noticed InnerTemple got to this first.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 64

Ace123

The facebook support page demanding Marine A's release which has only been online for one day now has almost 21,000 likes and they are starting a government epetition could have a shot of getting a good number of signatures

Reply 65

the mezzil

Yes. He broke the law.

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Reply 66

Drewski

Original post by Ace123

Doesn't mean they're right and equally doesn't mean a thing will be done about it. Or should be.

Reply 67

Ace123

Original post by Drewski

Doesn't mean they're right and equally doesn't mean a thing will be done about it. Or should be.

you are right but over 20,000 supporting in one day does show good support for the issue and epetitions have a year to run to get to 100,000 so with support from the army could raise the issue in Parliament

Reply 68

Drewski

Original post by Ace123

Still doesn't mean anything, the Chief of the Defence Staff stands behind the decision of the court.

Reply 69

InnerTemple

Original post by Ace123

I really do question the judgment of those who are supporting this petition.

You don't get very far by acting like a savage and sinking down to the level of your enemy.

Reply 70

flugelr

Original post by the bear

I do not understand why this murderer is still given anonymity .

It is to protect his family's safety. There are already videos on the internet calling for "true followers of Islam" to kill the family as "retribution".

absolutely

What use is a law if it can be broken for any tom , dick and harry ?

Reply 73

Little Boots

Of course. Man oh man this news story made me angry. The audio recording especially. Shoot injured captured soldiers and expect because you're in the army it's okay why don't you.
If I did what he did and didn't get a life sentence I'd think it pathetic.

Reply 74

Little Boots

By the way, the majority of people here agree he did a terrible thing, and I want to say thanks for that. You've all restored my faith you have my lovelies.

Reply 75

BowzerEdwards

I speak as someone who is currently undergoing the Royal Marines Young Officer application process and I do believe he should be in prison.

To an extent, there are mitigating circumstances and until we have been in a situation such as that, it is hard to comment. I certainly hope that whilst a prison term is totally necessary, the Marine receives a degree of leniency.

However, Marine A's comments about the Geneva Convention, not administering first aid and the shuffling off of mortal coils makes the issue pretty black and white for me.

The Taliban fighter wasn't dead. They weren't under fire. They made pointed remarks about knowing how wrong it was.

It was murder. They've been caught and a Marine has been found guilty.

I see there are comments about the 'arbitrary lines' we draw as a society, and yes, it's certainly interesting point..

It's okay to target people who are not actually fighting us, with drone strikes. It's fine to kill civilians if they constitute collateral damage - 'these things happen in war'. It's acceptable to incarcerate and torture suspect people, if they can be suitably categorised. Extra-judicial executions are ok. But it's not ok for a soldier to decide, 'he's a known enemy, I'll kill him'.

Whilst the above is certainly an interesting debate - it is irrelevant. We are all (including our Forces) governed by rules. When rules are broken, there are consequences. The rights and wrongs of these rules are a completely different argument.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 76

L i b

Original post by BowzerEdwards

To an extent, there are mitigating circumstances and until we have been in a situation such as that, it is hard to comment. I certainly hope that whilst a prison term is totally necessary, the Marine receives a degree of leniency.

Well, there's only one penalty for murder - a life sentence. Albeit with varying degrees of when you can be released on licence.

I accept there may have been mitigating factors, but I'd also ask you to consider that there were considerable aggravating factors as well. Armed forces personnel are given a unique position of trust, granted use of otherwise-unlawful firearms and expected to uphold the highest standards of conduct. Equally it cannot be ignored that he disgraced his corps and, more widely, the British forces by his action - and gave our enemies a propaganda victory.

That he did what he did in his position does make it considerably worse.

Reply 77

username851717

Yes he should. The Geneva convention and all exists for a reason.

Reply 78

the bear

Original post by flugelr

It is to protect his family's safety. There are already videos on the internet calling for "true followers of Islam" to kill the family as "retribution".

there are plenty of videos calling for retribution against the alleged killers of Gunner Rigby... but they have not been granted anonymity... funny that.