Freed Royal Marine Alexander Blackman has a new job helping other veterans through hard times.
Ten months after his release from jail, the sergeant has joined a new scheme supporting wounded servicemen find work.
He declared: ‘I cannot stress enough how great it feels to be useful again to society – and to be able to contribute to the household finances again.’
Yesterday he attended the official launch of the new service, called ExFor+, at the Houses of Parliament.
Sgt Alexander Blackman, who was known as Marine A, attended the official launch of the new service, called ExFor+, at the Houses of Parliament in London yesterday
Sgt Blackman, pictured left and right, with ExFor+ Chairman Simon Adams, spent 1,277 days behind bars for shooting a mortally-wounded Taliban fighter in Afghanistan
Mr Adams (fifth from right), pictured with Sgt Blackman (fifth from left) and Tory MP Sir Mike Penning (far right), set up ExFor+ after he was wounded during a training exercise and medically discharged from the military in 2011
Sgt Blackman – known as Marine A – said he wanted to devote himself to helping those in need.
He spent 1,277 days behind bars for shooting a mortally-wounded Taliban fighter in Afghanistan.
Top brass left him to rot in jail, but the decorated commando was saved by Mail readers who raised money for a successful appeal.
The Appeal Court cut his sentence, saying he was suffering from combat stress, and he was released on licence last April, to be reunited with his wife Claire.
Yesterday Sgt Blackman, 43, said: ‘It has been fantastic to be home and together with Claire, and for 10 months I have been doing a lot of DIY jobs and cycling, but I have always been very keen to get back to work.
A video still from the incident in which Sgt Blackman shot a mortally-wounded Taliban fighter
Sgt Blackman’s wife, Claire, led a high-profile campaign begins to have the serviceman freed
Mr Adams, 34, was wounded during a training exercise and medically discharged from the military in 2011. Pictured: Supporters of the marine celebrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice in March last year in London after learning Sgt Blackman could be freed in just weeks
‘The pay is only a little above the minimum wage but it is good to be giving something back and be bringing something in.
‘I will never be able to thank enough the Mail readers and everyone else who helped me, but hopefully I can at least show that I am taking a positive step to help others.’
He added: ‘If my life had gone slightly differently, and I had finished my service in the Marines, I probably wouldn’t have been that interested in doing this.
‘But I have been shaped by my experiences and now I am in a position where I really want to help other veterans.’
ExFor+ was set up by Simon Adams, another former Royal Marine.
Mr Adams, 34, was wounded during a training exercise and medically discharged from the military in 2011.
After finding it difficult to adjust to civilian life, he set up the organisation to help other wounded or sick former servicemen find employment on ‘civvy street’.
In the UK, about 200,000 – or one in five – ex-forces veterans of working age are not in work.
An estimated 7,000 of these are living rough.
Many find it hard to cope, especially if they are suffering the effects of trauma on the front line serving in Afghanistan, Iraq or elsewhere.
Sgt Blackman’s wife Claire reacts outside the The Royal Courts of Justice in London in March last year
Mr Adams said: ‘We want to help many injured or sick veterans who have served their country and are ready and skilled to continue making a positive difference in civilian life.’
ExFor+ is a not-for-profit ‘community interest company’ offering veterans help and advice in retraining to civilian jobs.
Mr Adams said: ‘Al is a very capable individual who exhibits the highest standards of integrity, self-belief and a quiet understanding of his ability, with the drive and determination of a Royal Marine.
‘I knew he was an individual I could work with, on a level of mutual understanding, and together we can achieve great and positive changes for the UK both socially and economically through the work.
‘Why did I employ Alexander Blackman? Why would I not?’
Addressing VIPs at the launch event in Parliament yesterday, Mr Adams said too often military veterans who struggled with civilian life became a burden on the NHS or fell into trouble with the police.
He said: ‘As veterans, we want our country to work efficiently and effectively and to stop wasted time, money and resource so that organisations like the NHS can concentrate on what they need to do.’
Conservative MP Sir Mike Penning, a former Armed Forces Minister who hosted yesterday’s event, said: ‘We ask our armed forces to do unbelievable things, but we don’t prepare them well for coming out.
‘They need help with life skills rather than being allowed to fall off the track. Far too many are in our prisons – hero one minute, villain the next. What ExFor+ is doing will help.’
Alan Bloom, 60, a Royal Military Police veteran at the event, said: ‘I wouldn’t be as stable as I am now if it wasn’t for Simon’s help.’
Major General Jonathan Hall, a patron of the scheme, said: ‘It is much needed.’
Who is Marine A and why was he locked up for more than three years?
Support: Ever since Alexander Blackman was convicted tens of thousands of servicemen and women as well as the public have fought to see his murder convicted overturned
Sergeant Alexander Blackman – known as Marine A – became the first British serviceman convicted of murder on a foreign battlefield since the Second World War.
Here is a timeline of events in the case:
2011
March – Sgt Blackman deploys to Helmand province with 42 Commando as part of Op Herrick XIV. His unit is sent to Nad-e Ali, where it sees heavy fighting. Several marines are killed, including Sgt Blackman’s troop commander, and others are maimed.
September 15 – Taliban insurgents attack a small British patrol base. The attack is repelled with the aid of a British Apache helicopter gunship. Sgt Blackman and his marines are on patrol and sent to look for the fleeing attackers. They find one, lying gravely wounded, in the middle of a field. Sgt Blackman shoots him in the chest with his pistol. The killing is captured on helmet camera by one of the patrol.
2012
September – The video of the incident is found on a Royal Marine’s laptop during an investigation by civilian police into another alleged crime. A police investigation begins.
October 11 – Seven unnamed Royal Marines are arrested on suspicion of murder.
2013
October 23 – Sgt Blackman and two others go on trial at the Court Martial Centre in Bulford, Wiltshire, accused of murder. He is only identified as Marine A and his comrades as Marines B and C. They give evidence from behind screens. All three plead not guilty.
November 8 – Sgt Blackman is found guilty of murder. The two other marines are acquitted.
December 5 – A court rules Sgt Blackman, still only known to the world as Marine A, should be stripped of his anonymity.
December 6 – Sgt Blackman, from Taunton, Somerset, is given a life sentence and told he must serve a minimum of 10 years in a civilian prison.
2014
May 22 – Sgt Blackman loses a Court of Appeal bid to overturn his life sentence. His minimum term is cut from 10 years to eight.
2015
September – A high-profile campaign begins to have Sgt Blackman freed, led by his wife Claire.
December 16 – 1,100 pages of new evidence are handed into the Criminal Cases Review Commission in an attempt to have the conviction sent back to the Court of Appeal.
2016
December – The CCRC concludes there is a ‘real possibility’ of overturning the conviction, and grants an appeal. Later the same month, the Lord Chief Justice refuses a bid to grant bail, after prosecutors challenge new psychiatric evidence about his mental state at the time of the killing.
December 21 – Sgt Blackman loses a bid to be released on bail in time for Christmas ahead of his appeal hearing.
2017
February 7 – Five judges, Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, Sir Brian Leveson, Lady Justice Hallett, Mr Justice Openshaw and Mr Justice Sweeney, begin hearing an appeal brought by Sgt Blackman to overturn his murder conviction at the Court Martial Appeal Court in London.
March 13 – The Court Martial Appeal Court announces the appeal ruling will be given on March 15.
March 15 – Sgt Blackman has his murder conviction replaced with manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility by the Court. A new sentence will be set at a later date.
March 28 – Sgt Blackman was given a 7-year sentence for manslaughter with diminished responsibility, but was given credit for time served, and was freed on 28 April 2017.