The new Wild West: The former Para 直面するing 死刑 for 殺人，大当り two fellow mercenaries chasing riches in Iraq

By 告訴する Reid for The Mail on Sunday
Updated: 08:02 BST, 31 January 2011

Dog of war: Danny Fitzsimmons is （刑事）被告 of gunning 負かす／撃墜する two of his workmates during an argument in Iraq and could 直面する the 死刑

Sitting on a thin mattress in a tiny Baghdad police 独房, Danny Fitzsimons sounds a 脅すd man as he 会談 to me on the 動きやすい phone he 密輸するd in ?under the noses of his guards.

‘I 港／避難所’t had a proper night’s 残り／休憩（する） in the 17 months since they put me here,’ he tells me. ‘If I sleep I have nightmares, so I stay awake by drinking coffee.’

The British former paratrooper is desperate to come home. But for the moment that seems 高度に ありそうもない as he waits in Karabat Maryam police 駅／配置する in the Iraqi 資本／首都 to find out if he will hang for 殺人.

Fitzsimons, 30, is a British mercenary, （刑事）被告, after a whisky-fuelled fight 近づく Saddam Hussein’s former palace in Baghdad’s ひどく 防備を堅める／強化するd Green Zone, of 狙撃 dead two of his workmates, a former British 王室の 海洋 and an Australian ex-飛行士, both 37 and fathers.

It is （人命などを）奪う，主張するd Fitzsimons killed them with the Glock ピストル he carried ?everywhere in Iraq. Last week, he stood in a 木造の ドッキングする／減らす／ドックに入れる before three 裁判官s at the Baghdad 犯罪の cour t, pleading to be spared the death 宣告，判決 and （人命などを）奪う，主張するing he 行為／法令／行動するd in self-defence.

He is the first 西部の人／西洋人 to be tried by an Iraqi 法廷，裁判所 since the war began eight years ago, after the 解除するing of an 免疫 協定 in 2009 which stopped foreign 国家のs 存在 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金d with 犯罪の offences.

If his life is spared (and this hinges on the 決定／判定勝ち（する） of the judicial 階層制度 which let Saddam hang) he will be sent to a Baghdad 刑務所，拘置所 where, he 予報するs, as a former British 兵士 he will be ‘dead meat’.

Fitzsimons will hear his 運命／宿命 on February 20, and his family are working to turn his 事例／患者 into an international 原因（となる） c?l?bre.

On his 味方する is his father, Eric, and stepmother, Liz, teachers from Oldham, Lancashire, his mother, Beverley, and human 権利s’ organisation （死）刑の執行猶予（をする）. They say if a 刑務所，拘置所 宣告，判決 is 手渡すd 負かす／撃墜する he should serve it in Britain.

They say Danny is 定評のある by 医療の 当局 to be 苦しむing from 地位，任命する-traumatic 強調する／ストレス disorder (PTSD), which he developed after serving with the Army in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia, Macedonia and Northern Ireland.

Pitted against the Fitzsimons family is the fianc?e of former 王室の 海洋 Paul McGuigan, who was killed in the brawl along with Australian Darren Hoare.

Nicci Prestage, 37, from Tameside, Manchester, 解任するs （人命などを）奪う，主張するs that ?Fitzsimons’ mental illness turned him into a 殺し屋. She points to his history of 予測できない behaviour, 激しい drinking and 麻薬-taking.

‘I have worked to piece together what happened, using 証言，証人／目撃する 声明s, 地位，任命する-mortem and 出来事/事件 報告（する）／憶測s,’ she says.

‘Paul had two 射撃 負傷させるs to his chest that were not 解雇する／砲火／射撃d at の近くに 範囲, and weren’t the 致命的な 発射s. As Paul fell to his 膝s, a gun was put in his mouth and 解雇する／砲火／射撃d, 厳しいing his spinal cord and 殺人，大当り him. Darren Hoare was 発射 in his 寺 at の近くに 範囲. I would 述べる this as an 死刑執行.’

犠牲者: Paul McGuigan was 発射 dead by Fitzsimons, with Paul's fianc?e Nicci Prestage believing it was an 死刑執行

So how did Danny Fitzsimons, from a decent, caring family, 結局最後にはーなる 直面するing a hangman’s noose? And what does his 事例／患者 tell us about the twilight world of British mercenaries cashing in on the 再建 of 戦後の Iraq?

At the heart of the 論争 is the 審議 over PTSD, the （死傷者）数 it takes on 兵士s and whether men who live with such demons should be working as 安全 顧問s.

Fitzsimons was 発射する／解雇するd at 24 from the Army after failing a 麻薬s 実験（する） にもかかわらず a successful eight-year career during which he was selected to join ?2 Para from his 連隊, the 王室の Fusiliers.

The Army said he was 苦しむing from ‘調整 disorder’, a 強調する／ストレス-関係のある （民事の）告訴 which 刺激するs a person to 反逆者／反逆する against the ‘支配するs and 規則s’ of their workplace or society.

He then worked as a club bouncer before turning to 私的な 安全 work abroad, which 支払う／賃金s £1,000 a week in a 衝突 zone. He did four stints in Iraq (although one company, 保護, 解雇（する）d him for ‘extreme 怠慢，過失’ when he 攻撃する，衝突する a （弁護士の）依頼人 on the nose), returning to Britain in between.

This week, his family said they were already worried about him by this time. ‘He locked himself away in his flat and began drinking ひどく. He was taking 麻薬s and became violent and abusive,’ remembe rs his stepmother.

In his time overseas, Fitzsimons had 証言，証人／目撃するd the beheading of a ?Kosovan boy he had befriended, and saw a ?同僚 燃やすd to death in Iraq in a 安全 乗り物 攻撃する，衝突する by a 爆弾.

‘He had nightmares and flashbacks. He’d had 列／漕ぐ／騒動s with his father when he had a drink,’ says his stepmother. He also had run-ins with police. His family says a psychiatric 報告（する）／憶測 ordered by a 法廷，裁判所 in 2008 shows he had PTSD.When he returned to Iraq for a fifth time in 2009 to work for a 会社／堅い called ArmorGroup, he was を待つing 裁判，公判 for 強襲，強姦 in the North-West and had been questioned over a 強盗, 所有／入手 of 弾薬／武器 and public order offences.

So how did he get the 職業? ArmorGroup (which had 雇うd him once before) has 認める it failed to carry out 十分な checks on him before he went to Iraq the last time, but also says Fitzsimons lied about his past.

残虐な: Darren Hoare, left, was 発射 in the 寺 at の近くに 範囲 by former Para Danny Fitzsimons

An ArmorGroup 広報担当者 says: ‘We can 確認する that in this particular 事例／患者 there is 証拠 that he falsified （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） during the 新規採用 proce ss, although his 審査 was not 完全にするd in line with the company’s 手続きs.

‘We received two separate 医療の 文書s which certified he was fit to work in Iraq. It has subsequently come to light that the most 最近の of those 文書s was (1)偽造する／(2)徐々に進むd, and we have 推論する／理由 to believe it was (1)偽造する／(2)徐々に進むd by Mr Fitzsimons.’

Thousands of ex-兵士s are 雇うd by 私的な 安全 会社／堅いs to work in Wild West 衝突 zones. They guard people such as VIPs, businessmen, buildings and 軍用車隊s.

誘惑するd by 税金-解放する／自由な 支払う／賃金, they invariably carry guns without the strict ‘調印する in and 調印する out’ 操作の 支配するs of the Army.

As Fitzsimons told me from his 独房: ‘We were “guns for 雇う”. I had a Glock with me all the time. I was 問題／発行するd with one, along with an M4 ライフル銃／探して盗む, when I arrived in Iraq that August. There were ex-兵士s with worse mental problems than me who would go wild at the 減少（する） of a hat. They also had guns given to them by 私的な 安全 会社／堅いs and kept them in the 構内／化合物 rooms. They were never without them, even when they were drinking hard. Neither was I.’

So, what of ArmorGroup? It is now part of a 全世界の 安全 company, G4S, which makes billions of 続けざまに猛撃するs a year. It has made a one-off 支払い（額） of $75,000 (£47,000) に向かって Fitz?simons’ 合法的な 料金s.

His family say a proper defence would cost $1.8 million (£1.13 million) and they have begun raising 基金s to 飛行機で行く Fitzsimons’ father to Iraq to see him, perhaps for the last time, before the 判決 on whether he will hang is 発表するd next month.

His stepmother says: ‘The company should not have 雇うd Danny in his mental 明言する／公表する. The trouble with all these 安全 会社／堅いs is they just 雇う anyone?.?.?.?they don’t care what 明言する／公表する of health they’re in.

‘These lads have been turned into 殺人，大当り machines in the 軍隊s, then join 私的な armies.’

So, what really happened on Sunday, August 9, 2009, just 36 hours after Fitzsimons arrived in Baghdad? He says he was in the room of a friend called Kevin at a 安全 構内／化合物 in the ひどく guarded, four-square-mile Green Zone, where 政府 従業員s and foreigners live and work.

He was chatting by email on the computer to friends in England and had started drinking two litres of 認める’s whisky he had bought.

In text messages to his lawyer, seen by the Mail, Fitzsimons 解任するs that McGuigan and Hoare ― also 雇うd by ArmorGroup ― （機の）カム to the room.

They had only met Fitzsimons an hour earlier, but, によれば the texts, it seemed something had 原因（となる）d them to come looking for him with trouble in mind. < br />

Fitzsimons wrote in his texts: ‘Paul McGuigan was p****d out of his skull. Darren joined in with Paul against me. I went outside the room with Paul to have a man-to-man 雑談（する） to see what the problem was?.?.?.?’

The evening descended into a 一連の brawls. Fitzsimons says he 退却／保養地d to his room, taking half a 瓶／封じ込める of 認める’s with him.

‘Went on my laptop and 茎d the whisky. Passed out in a drunken “昏睡”. Woke up to Paul and Darren stood over me. Paul punched me 繰り返して. I fought ?savagely to get out of bed.

‘Ended up on the 床に打ち倒す 存在 stomped on. I lost consciousness for a few seconds. Heard Paul shout “We’re going to f****** kill you, you little c***”. I was getting it from both of them. I ended up on the 床に打ち倒す. I tried to はう under the bed. I felt my 脚 存在 bitten?.?.?.?Paul grabbed my M4 [ライフル銃／探して盗む]?.?.?.?he cocked the 武器. I pulled my Glock from my vest.

‘Paul had already told me he was gonna kill me, now he had my M4. I 発射 him three times in the chest?.?.?.?he was dead before he 攻撃する，衝突する the ground.’

The texts go on: ‘Darren shouted “you 発射 him, you 発射 him you’re dead”. He went for the Glock. I fought with him for 支配（する）／統制する of it. This is where I struggle to remember stuff. The booze had 急ぐd 一連の会議、交渉／完成する my 団体／死体 so quick coz of the fighting.

‘I remember blackness then madness. I know I fought for 支配（する）／統制する of the ピストル with Darren and I know I 伸び（る）d 支配（する）／統制する and he was 発射 at point blank I’m sure.’

殺人 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金: Iraqi police 護衛する Fitzsimons に引き続いて a 法廷，裁判所 外見 in central Baghdad after he was 逮捕（する）d by US 軍隊／機動隊s

Just how much of this ?見解／翻訳／版 should we believe? It’s hard to say. But what happened next at least is clearer.

Fitzsimons tried to run to the ?British 大使館 two miles away. But the Iraqi guard at the gate pointed his ライフル銃／探して盗む at him. Fitzsimons 発射 him in the 脚, but his escape was 停止（させる）d when an American 兵士 攻撃する，衝突する him with a rubber 弾丸.

Fitzsimons 確認するd to me the texts’ authenticity. His family believe he is not lying. But he 収容する／認めるs he can’t 解任する all the evening’s events because he was befuddled by whisky.

Little wonder, perhaps, that Nicci Prestage (who has a daughter by McGuigan born after he was killed) has her 疑問s about the deaths.

She 主張するs she spoke to her partner 経由で webcam for most of the night from 5.30pm on Saturday, August 8, and he was not drunk. ‘We 結局 said goodbye and logged off at 12.03am 早期に the next morning,’ she told me.

'Paul was 殺人d at だいたい 1.15am in an unprovoked attack.’

She su spects her fianc?, a team leader, and Hoare, 長，率いる of 構内／化合物 安全, went to Fitzsimons’ room when he began to behave erratically 予定 to drink, and were killed ?without 誘発.

And John Pollard, the British 検死官 who received McGuigan’s 団体／死体 in the UK a month after the 出来事/事件, said: ‘There were no 傷害s on his 団体／死体 which might have 明らかにする／漏らすd he had been 伴う／関わるd in a physical altercation.’

At Fitzsimons’ last 法廷，裁判所 外見 eight days ago, he pleaded not 有罪の to 殺人, asking the 裁判官s to consider a lesser ?過失致死 嘆願 which carries a 刑務所，拘置所 宣告，判決.

The 法廷，裁判所 辞退するd to let him explain his PTSD which was 確認するd, によれば his British lawyer, by an Iraqi 医療の 委員会 in ?December. 失望させるd, Fitzsimons shouted out: ‘I don’t believe this is a fair 裁判，公判.’

He 直面するs an agonising wait to hear whether he will hang or go to 刑務所，拘置所: the 判決，裁定 will be 配達するd by 裁判官s to his 独房 next month. If it is the 死刑, his 合法的な team will 控訴，上告.

‘I will come home to Britain alive one day,’ he 主張するd on the phone as he said goodbye to me. And, remarkably, this troubled man sounds as though he believes it.