Saved from the gallows

20 YEARS . . . Danny. Picture courtesy press Association

Danny escapes death penalty but gets 20 years

FORMER paratrooper and security guard Danny Fitzsimons has been jailed for 20 years in Iraq over the gun deaths of two contractors.

The former pupil of Our Lady’s Catholic School, Royton, who was facing the death penalty, told an Iraqi court that he shot his ArmorGroup colleagues Paul McGuigan and Darren Hoare, both aged 37, in self-defence in August, 2009.

He admitted manslaughter with diminished responsibility but pleaded not guilty to murder.

Today he was found guilty over the shootings, as well as with attempting to kill an Iraqi guard.

Under Iraqi law, life in prison is equivalent to 20 years.

Fitzsimons said as he was being led from the courtroom by Iraqi guards that he was happy with the sentence.

But when asked whether he thought the trial was fair, he said: “No.”

His father Eric Fitzsimons and stepmum Liz, PE teachers at Newbridge School, Hollinwood, have always claimed he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of his experiences serving with the Army in the former Yugoslavia and as a private security guard in Iraq.

Those claims have never been accepted by the family of his victims.

In handing down the verdict, the head judge of the three-judge panel said Fitzsimons’ mental condition was taken into consideration when deciding on the sentence.

Fitzsimons was accompanied by his Iraqi lawyer Tariq Harb who said afterwards: “This is a very good sentence.

“I saved him from the gallows.”

Fitzsimons now has 30 days to appeal, which Mr Harb said he would do in a bid to reduce the sentence.

Fitzsimons is the first Westerner to be convicted by an Iraqi court since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Speaking to the Chronicle in January, his stepmother Liz Fitzsimons said: “He told us if they move him to Baghdad’s Russaffa prison, he’s a dead man.

“He said the other prisoners will target him and he won’t last a day.”

The family believe Danny should be brought home so he can serve any sentence in Britain.

Last week, Fitzsimons’ British lawyer John Tipple said the family and British authorities were trying to reach an agreement with the Iraqi government to have Fitzsimons transferred to a British prison if he was not given the death penalty.