By Oliver August

A British security guard facing trial for murder in Iraq told The Times last night that a drunken brawl led to him shooting to death two colleagues, in what he claimed was self-defence.

Danny Fitzsimons, an employee of the British security company ArmorGroup, was arrested in Baghdad early on Sunday in connection with the killing of Paul McGuigan, a Briton, and Darren Hoare, an Australian.

Mr Fitzsimons, from Manchester, appeared in court yesterday, Iraqi investigators saying that they had all the evidence they needed to put him on trial for murder.

Danny Fitzsimons is accused of gunning down fellow Briton Paul McGuigan and Australian Darren Hoare after a row in Baghdad's Green Zone

He would be the first private security guard to face Iraqi justice and he could receive the death penalty.

“This will not take long,” an Iraqi police source said, speaking by telephone from inside the Green Zone police station, where Mr Fitzsimons is held.

Former and current colleagues of Mr Fitzsimons said he had been in and out of Iraq for the last five years and had worked for several security companies, including Aegis. An Aegis spokeswoman said that the firm had fired Mr Fitzsimons in 2007 after just a few months for “extreme negligence” and fined him $3,000.

Yesterday, showing a black eye and bruises on his back, Mr Fitzsimons recounted his version of the events that led to the deaths of the two guards and the wounding of an Iraqi man in the compound of an ArmorGroup client.

He told an Iraqi interpreter working for The Times: “I got into a fight with two colleagues and they had me pinned down. I received a real beating. They beat me and that’s when I reached for my weapon. I was drunk and it happened very quickly.”

Mr Fitzsimons also has stitches in a wound on his hand where he was shot with a rubber bullet during his arrest.

He was held in an isolation cell for the first 24 hours of his detention but has been transferred to a general holding area together with about a dozen Iraqi men.

According to the police source he has taken over one corner of the cell and has no contact with his fellow inmates. The source said: “He sleeps on a mattress supplied by ArmorGroup. He also has his own chair. Employees from his company come to check on him every hour and supply him with fresh Western food. Mr Fitzsimons, who in his late twenties, is said to be the only man in the cell to be handcuffed. “We consider him very dangerous. We were told that he has a history of violent attacks,” the Iraqi policeman said.

He was questioned by prosecutors yesterday morning, during which he expressed contrition for the incident, the source claimed. “He told them he is very sorry for what happened,” said the source. “He regrets it very much.”

Later Mr Fitzsimons was taken before a judge. So far he has refused legal representation but he is being visited by British Embassy staff and by representatives from his company.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is looking into how it can help Mr Fitzsimons but there appears to be little chance that he will stand trial in Britain.

The two ArmorGroup guards were killed shortly before Mr Fitzsimons was observed running into the street brandishing a handgun. He was detained by US and UN forces, who promptly handed him over to the Iraqi police, under a new protocol.

A current Iraqi employee of ArmorGroup said: “He was a very bad guy. We were afraid of him. His ways are very aggressive.”

Another said: “We heard that he also had problems with the authorities in his home country. His foreign colleagues told us not to trust him and to stay away from him.”

One former British soldier who had worked alongside Mr Fitzsimons, who previously served as a Paratrooper, claimed he had a history of violent conduct. “This should have precluded him from being hired,” he said. “This guy should never have been out here.”

A contractor based in Britain who also worked with Mr Fitzsimons agreed. “We have guys working in Iraq whose backgrounds are not checked as they should be,” he said. “This guy has been a loose cannon for years.”

ArmorGroup said it had a strong vetting and screening process for its employees. “We have been presented with the allegations regarding Mr Fitzsimons today and they are currently under thorough investigation. Until that is complete, we are not able to comment further,” a spokeswoman added. Existing employees in Iraq, however, said that on-the-job monitoring of staff was at best cursory.

ArmorGroup used to have the contract for guarding the British Embassy in Baghdad but lost it to another firm. The private security business in Iraq employs thousands of ex-soldiers from Britain, the US, Australia and South Africa. There are calls for the numbers of firms and employees to be curbed.

In Scotland Mr McGuigan’s mother, Corinne Boyd-Russell, who lives in Peeblesshire, were too upset to comment. Her husband James said: “We would prefer to be left alone at this time.”

The partner of Mr McGuigan, who was 37, is expecting his child.

Mr McGuigan was brought up in Peebles where he attended school and then left to join the Royal Marines.

One former neighbour said: “He was a daft big laddie at times but he could certainly look after himself. He was well-built.

“After he left the Marines he went over to Ireland and worked as a plasterer with his dad John but he went into the private security industry and had been in Iraq for a while.

“Although he had a lot of school pals from his days in Peebles he rarely came back here.”

At the Peebles Ex Servicemen Club bar staff said that Mr McGuigan had always wanted to work abroad.

One member of staff, who did not wish to named, said: “I knew Paul well. When he was home he would always come full of stories and seemed to really enjoy what he did.

“He went all over the world but we had not seen him for a very long time. Not since he joined the security company in Iraq.”

Tags: ArmorGroup, Fitzsimons, Iraq, secur

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