Peebles man's murder trial adjourned
David O'Leary • Published 12 Apr 2010 12:03
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Paul McGuigan
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THE trial of a British security guard accused of murdering a Peebles man and his colleague in Iraq has been adjourned for two months for psychiatric assessments.
Danny Fitzsimons, 29, of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, faces the death penalty if found guilty of killing Paul McGuigan, and Australian Darren Hoare, both 37, in Baghdad's Green Zone last August.
All three men were ex-soldiers and worked as private security guards for the firm, Armor Group.
In text messages recently sent from his Baghdad prison cell, Fitzsimons said he shot dead the two men last August during a fight in which he feared for his life.
He described what he believed happened during the incident in a number of text messages sent to the Guardian newspaper.
The messages read: "I passed out in a drunken coma. Woke up to find Paul and Darren stood over me. Paul punched me repeatedly.
"Paul grabbed my M4... He cocked the weapon. I pulled the Glock from my vest, chambered a round.
"Paul had already told me he was going to kill me now he had my M4 in his shoulder.
"I shot him three times in the chest."
However Paul McGuigan's family dispute Mr Fitzsimons' account of what happened.
They say a post-mortem examination showed no defence or fight injuries to the two dead men, who had been shot at close range.
Paul's fiancee, Nicci Prestage, believes Fitzsimons murdered her man in an unprovoked attack. She said she had spoken to McGuigan an hour before his death.
She said: "The fact they were not shot from close range rules out any notion of self-defence. Paul was sat on one side of the room on a chair and Darren was sat on the other side of the room on a bed. Paul was shot through the heart, the chest and through the mouth, and Darren was shot from behind, through his legs and through his temple.
"Three weeks later, without the man I loved, I gave birth to his daughter, a beautiful baby girl who will never see her daddy, or receive a cuddle from him.
"I live a life sentence every minute of every day without Paul, and not fully enjoying our daughter. Everything she does is tinged with sadness knowing her daddy will never get to experience her."
Mr Fitzsimons' defence team say at the time of the incident he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his experiences while serving in Kosovo with the British army.
Legal charity Reprieve has said it is the UK Government's "legal and moral duty" to become involved in the case.
An official for the Karkh Criminal Court in west Baghdad said the case had been adjourned to 13 June.
This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 19 Jul 10
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