UK PTSD on Trial:British security guard who faces the death sentence

'When I close my eyes I see Paul and Darren's faces'

British security guard who faces the death sentence in Iraq for killing two colleagues begs to come back to the UK to stand trial

By Jonathan Owen
Sunday, 23 August 2009

A former British soldier facing the death penalty after killing two colleagues in Iraq spoke out last night to accuse the Government of abandoning him and issued a desperate plea to come home. "I've served my country and I am a British citizen but the Government is trying to wash its hands of me," he said, speaking to The Independent on Sunday from from his jail cell in Baghdad. "I want out of here, I want asylum in the UK – to have a proper trial run by proper judges. Everything is corrupt out here."


Mr Fitzsimons said he is haunted by the faces of Paul McGuigan and Darren Hoare, the two colleagues he allegedly shot dead after a drinking session in Baghdad's Green Zone earlier this month turned into a row. The three worked for the British private security firm ArmorGroup.

"I cannot remember a lot of what happened. It was just a blackout. We were drinking and then it just got out of hand. I cannot explain what happened but, put it this way, when I close my eyes I see Paul and Darren's faces. When I wake up I see their faces. Not a minute goes by when I don't feel for their families. I sit here with my head in my hands," said the 29-year-old former paratrooper, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"There's not a minute that goes by that I don't think about those two guys even though I was beaten to shit. There's more to it than has been reported but I've been told not to talk about the case."

He added: "I've always thought, all my life, that, the way I drink, something really bad was going to happen one day, and now it has."

"I've accepted why I'm here; the thing that's upset me is the way I've been portrayed in the newspapers, like I'm some sort of nutter. I worked with some top guys in top companies – professional ex-soldiers – and anybody that's worked with me, who's actually been on my team, they know I'm a good operator."

While he claims that he's not scared of dying he admits that the prospect of being hanged for murder is something that he "doesn't fancy" and said: "I'm the black sheep of the family – I always have been – but it will be devastating to my family if something happens to me."
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When I close my eyes I see Paul and Darrens faces