The Royal Marine jailed for killing an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan will be "released from prison on Friday", according to campaign group Justice For Marine A.

Alexander Blackman, 42, known as Marine A, had his conviction for murder quashed last month and his sentence changed from life in prison to seven years for manslaughter. The former Marine, who has served more than three years in prison for shooting dead an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan in 2011, was driven away from HMP Erlestoke, Wiltshire, at around 12.20am. Blackman lost an appeal against his conviction in May of the following year, but his 10-year minimum term was reduced to eight years. The appeal hearing came after his wife Claire led a campaign alongside author Frederick Forsyth and the Daily Mail newspaper. Image caption Sgt Blackman's actions were caught on another marine's helmet camera

In their sentencing remarks, the judges said that although Blackman's responsibility was diminished, he "still retained a substantial responsibility for the deliberate killing". The Court Martial Appeal Court found the killing was not a "cold-blooded execution" as the court martial concluded but the result of mental illness, an "adjustment disorder".
Sergeant Alexander Blackman, also known as Marine A, a Royal Marine who shot dead a wounded Taliban insurgent in 2011 during Operation Herrick, is released from HM Prison Erlestoke after serving more than three years of a seven-year sentence.