'I shot dead my two Iraq colleagues in self-defence'

Published on Friday 19 March 2010 00:16

A FORMER soldier who faces the death penalty over the killing of two of his colleagues in Iraq has claimed he acted in self-defence.

Danny Fitzsimons, 29, from Lancashire, is accused of shooting dead two employees of security firm ArmorGroup, one of them a Scot, in Baghdad's high-security Green Zone.

Paul McGuigan, from Peebles, and Australian Darren Hoare, both 37, were killed last August.

Mr McGuigan, who had one son and was about to become a father for the second time, was described by his fiancee as a "caring family man" after his death.

Fitzsimons has now claimed he was defending himself when he killed the two men.

He alleges he shot Mr McGuigan three times because he had pointed a gun at him, then killed Mr Hoare in a fight moments later.

In texts sent to a newspaper, he said: "Paul grabbed my M4, which I had been scattered away from my assault vest and armour. He cocked the weapon. I pulled the glock (pistol] from my vest, chambered a round. Paul had already told me he was gonna kill me now he had my M4 in his shoulder. I shot him three times in the chest."

The McGuigan family say there was no evidence Fitzsimons was acting in self defence.

Fitzsimons' family are to hold a news conference in London today to argue his case.