Briton sentenced to 20 years in Iraqi prison for killing two contractors

AN Iraqi court convicted a British man and sentenced him to 20 years in prison over the shooting dead of two contractors, making him the first Westerner convicted in an Iraqi court since the 2003 US invasion.

Danny Fitzsimons, 30, was found guilty of the 2009 fatal shootings of a British and Australian contractor who worked with him, and with attempting to kill an Iraqi guard.

Fitzsimons, who had been facing the death penalty, said as he was being led from the courtroom by Iraqi guards that he was happy with the sentence. But when asked whether he thought the trial was fair, he said: “No.”