A historic murder conviction against a British marine who shot dead a seriously wounded Taliban prisoner in Afghanistan has been quashed and replaced with one of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Alexander Blackman became the first member of the UK armed forces in recent history to be convicted of murder while on an overseas tour and has been serving a life sentence in a civilian prison since 2013.Blackman, who was not at the Royal Courts of Justice to hear the decision, remains in prison for the moment but will be re-sentenced within the next couple of weeks and at that point could be released.Outside court Blackman’s wife, Claire, who has led the campaign to free the former sergeant, said she was delighted by the result saying it “much better reflected the circumstances that [her] husband found himself in during that terrible tour of Afghanistan”.(The guardian)…[+]