Lawyers fly to Briton held for murder in Iraq

A British legal team will fly from Heathrow airport to Iraq later today to begin work on behalf of Danny Fitzsimons – the British military contractor who faces the death penalty for the alleged shooting of two of his colleagues in Baghdad, Iraq.

The 29-year-old former paratrooper, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, was working for ArmorGroup, a private military security company. He was arrested by Iraqi police after the attack in Baghdad's International Zone last Sunday that left two fellow ArmorGroup employees dead and a third injured.

The legal team setting out to work on his case include John Tipple, from Linn & Associates, and Nick Wrack, a barrister from Tooks Chambers. They will arrive in Baghdad tomorrow morning and intend to visit their client and begin the process of arranging his defence.

"Our intentions are to bring him back home to face trial in the UK," said Mr Tipple.

"Mr Fitzsimons is a British national and needs just two things – specialist medical help for his psychological problems and a fair trial – neither of which he is likely to get in Iraq."

The team will return from Iraq on Wednesday, and continue to press the Government to work to bring Mr Fitzsimons back to Britain to face justice.