Paul's killer gets 20 years

David O'Leary • Published 4 Mar 2011 09:30 0 Comments

A BRITISH security worker who shot dead a Peebles man in Iraq has been sentenced to 20 years in jail.

Danny Fitzsimons gunned down former Royal Marine Paul McGuigan, and Australian, Darren Hoare in Baghdad's Green Zone in August 2009.

The killer and his two victims had been working in the region for private security firm ArmourGroup.

In court, Fitzsimons, 31, claimed a fight had broken out and that he had been forced to shoot the two men with his pistol in self-defence. Paul, 37, was shot twice in the chest and through the mouth. The second victim, Darren Hoare, also 37, was shot through the temple.

Fitzsimons claimed he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder but the judge found him guilty of murdering the two men.

Paul's fiancee Nicci Prestage, 37, was so distraught when she heard the devastating news that she prematurely gave birth to his daughter, Elsie-Mai.

Nicci, who now lives in Tameside, near Manchester, with Elsie-Mai and her other daughter Leigh, 13, said: "It is exactly what we have said all along - this was coldblooded murder, not self-defence."

Paul's mum Corrine Boyd-Russell, of Innerleithen, said: "The family have found some solace in the fact that Fitzsimons was convicted for murder and not manslaughter, which shows there was no evidence of a fight between them all.

"It also proves there was no evidence either of post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The true victims in this are Paul, his family and his little girl who will never see her daddy."

As Fitzsimons was led from court on Monday he said he was "happy" to have avoided the gallows. But his worried step-mum Liz told how he has threatened to kill himself if he is sent to Baghdad's notorious Rusafa prison with terrorists.

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This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 04 Mar 11

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