Lord Carey: 'I'm praying for jailed Marine A Sergeant Blackman'.
Harry
Farley JOURNALIST
Former
Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey of Clifton is praying for the release of
jailed 'Marine A' whose murder conviction has been overturned.
George
Carey joined MPs, peers and retired military chiefs in calling on judges to
grant mercy to Sergeant Alexander Blackman in court on Tuesday.
The
marine's new prison sentence for shooting a wounded Taliban is being decided by
the Appeal Court after it reversed his murder conviction, downgrading it to
manslaughter because of combat stress.
Lord
Carey, 81, described Sergeant Blackman as a 'magnificient soldier' with a 'long
and distinguished record of service' to the Queen.
'I
have served myself in the armed forces and know that in the heat and dust of
battle, split second decisions must be made and expediency can sometimes
overcome strict morality even for the best of men,' he said in a public
statement on Sunday.
'The long prison sentence he has already served seems long enough both for him and his dignified wife, and I pray for his release. We need men like this at this time.''Unless you have walked a mile in their shoes it is hard to understand the pressures,' he added.
'The long prison sentence he has already served seems long enough both for him and his dignified wife, and I pray for his release. We need men like this at this time.''Unless you have walked a mile in their shoes it is hard to understand the pressures,' he added.
The
former Church leader's intervention comes Blackman's wife Claire and
Conservative MPs spearheaded a campaign for his release.
Richard
Drax, South Dorset MP and ex-Army officer, said five judges had it in their
power to show him mercy on Tuesday.
'Let's
not forget that this insurgent was no different to the terrorist who caused
carnage on Westminster Bridge on Wednesday, before fatally stabbing PC Keith
Palmer,' he said on Sunday.
'Warped
and twisted hatred drives them to commit crimes we simply cannot comprehend, and
the only people who stand between them and us are brave men like PC Palmer and
Mr Blackman.'
He
wrote on his website: 'What on earth would it achieve by keeping Mr Blackman in
jail? This former Royal Marine has spent nearly three and half years in prison
already.
'He
has paid a terrible price for serving his country, to the point where something
inside him just snapped.
'We
owe him a debt of gratitude and I sincerely hope and pray this will be sensibly
reflected by our top judges on Tuesday morning.'
Blackman
was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 10 years in 2013 after he was
filmed shooting a fatally wounded Taliban insurgent. But his sentence of murder
was downgraded to manslaughter on with psychologists ruling he was suffering
from combat stress disorder.
The
Court of Appeal is deciding his new prison sentence. Christian Today.
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