A British guard working for a security company inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone was arrested yesterday after two of his colleagues were killed and another wounded in a reported alcohol-fuelled rampage.
Danny Fitzsimons, who fled the scene with a pistol, was held after a shootout and handed to Iraqi police.
A judicial official in Baghdad said that Mr Fitzsimons could face the death penalty. He is the first British national and the first foreign security guard since the 2003 US invasion to face criminal charges in Iraq.
The two dead, also security guards, were named as Paul McGuigan, from Britain, and Darren Hoare, an Australian. The men, who all worked for the British company ArmorGroup, were drinking alcohol together inside the company compound in the Green Zone, the capital’s administrative centre.
"They were all very drunk and started shouting at each other. They had a big argument and suddenly [Mr Fitzsimons] pulled out a gun and shot his two friends," a witness said. "An Iraqi was standing behind him and tried to take away the gun. But he turned around and shot him ... Then he ran away."
