Briton claims PTSD in Baghdad murder trial

The verdict in the case of a British security contractor accused of murdering a Scot and Australian colleague in Baghdad has been delayed while the court studies his claim he has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Danny Fitzsimons, 30, from Greater Manchester, is the first Westerner to be tried by an Iraqi court since the start of the war nearly eight years ago and faces the death penalty if convicted. He is charged with the two murders of his colleagues and with attempting to kill an Iraqi guard.

Judges were due to make a ruling after considering medical reports on his mental state at the time of the shooting.

Fitzsimons told a three-judge panel last month he was acting in self-defence when he shot ArmorGroup colleagues Paul McGuigan, a former Royal Marine from Peebles, and Darren Hoare. He claims the men threatened to kill him after a whisky-fuelled brawl in 2009.