Former Royal Marine Alexander Blackman says he still cannot explain why he killed wounded combatant

Alexander Blackman, the Royal Marine sergeant convicted of killing a wounded Taliban fighter, has described his crime as a “moment of madness” but is not ruling out the possibility of collaborating in a Hollywood film of the saga.

Blackman, better known by his codename, Marine A, said he could not explain why he had shot dead the prisoner though he had spent a lot of time trying to pinpoint his reasons.

He said he had received lots of offers of employment following his release from prison last month and wanted to do something useful, interesting and enjoyable.

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Blackman’s wife, Claire, said there was a “fun conversation” to be had about a movie but said the couple had not yet had any discussions with producers about the project.

The marine was convicted in 2013 of murdering a Taliban prisoner while on tour in Helmand province in Afghanistan, and jailed for life.

The conviction was quashed when the court martial appeal court ruled he had been suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the shooting in 2011 and replaced with one of manslaughter. His sentence was reduced from life to seven years and he was released after serving half of it.

Speaking to the BBC, Blackman was asked about his reasons for shooting the prisoner dead.

He replied: “I don’t think my view’s changed. It’s still: don’t know why exactly I did it. It’s still a moment of madness. I think [that] is the best description I can give. It’s not exactly the proudest moment of my life when I look back on that.”

Probed further, he said: “I really couldn’t tell you. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it and I haven’t got a definitive answer.”

He was asked how he would react if he faced the same situation again. Blackman said: “It’s such a unique circumstance in a unique area of the world. The likelihood of me ever finding myself in that position again is so remote it’s almost comical. I can’t really answer how I’d react.”

Blackman and his wife said they were considering what to do next.

He said: “I’ve had lots of kind offers of employment. Once things have calmed down a little bit I’ll go through those and see what takes my fancy. The most important thing for me is to be useful and to do something I find interesting and enjoy.”

Claire Blackman added: “I’ve got a great long list of jobs for him. He can be very useful.”

The Blackmans’ barrister, Jonathan Goldberg QC, has said he has been to Hollywood to discuss the possibility of a film deal. Goldberg said there was talk of Blackman being played by Tom Hardy, Claire Blackman by Kate Winslet and Goldberg himself by Al Pacino.

Blackman said: “We haven’t talked to anyone.” But his wife said: “We’ve been enjoying just over a week together and all the options that lay before us will be considered and nothing’s ruled in and nothing’s ruled out. It’s a fun conversation to have probably but we haven’t gone there yet.”