A Massachusetts father and his daughter say they have a selfie stick to thank for surviving a recent near-drowning experience after being swept up into a dangerous riptide in Nantucket.

Sergeant Alexander Blackman – believed to be the only British serviceman ever convicted of murder on the battlefield – was locked up as a ‘political scapegoat’ for failings by top brass, say supporters.

Alexander Blackman, an Acting Colour Sergeant in the Royal Marines was judged to be of 'impeccable moral courage' until he was 'dismissed with disgrace'.

Only a few days before the Alexander Blackman shot a Taliban casualty, Oliver Lee (pictured) had been made the Marine's de facto Commanding Officer, although they had never met.

Military chiefs are plotting to cover up a damning report that could help free Sgt Alexander Blackman jailed for murder with top brass planning to 'sweep under the carpet' evidence that could clear the Marine.

Covered in the censor’s black ink, this is the official report the Navy plans to publish into the shooting incident – with only Blackman’s name visible. The report draws ‘challenging’ conclusions about failures through the chain of command.

Alexander Blackman was found guilty by only five of the seven jurors trying him, it was claimed yesterday. The other two officers on the court martial panel are said to have come under ‘very considerable pressure’ to change their not guilty verdicts.

Commissioned by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Sir Philip Jones, and conducted by a respected Royal Marine brigadier, the investigation into the court martial of Sergeant Alexander Blackman took almost a year longer than expected.

Interventions in small Muslim states over the last twenty years, far from saving the West from the threats from dictators, have left Britain and America more at risk than ever.

Day Two of our campaign to secure a retrial for Marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman, pictured, and the disturbing questions mount over his conviction.

Being married to a convicted criminal can never be easy. How much harder, though, to be Mrs Alexander Blackman — certain that her husband has been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

A number of senior politicians, including three MPs on the defence select committee, have demanded the troubling case of Sergeant Alexander Blackman be reopened.

After speaking to her husband in Erlestoke Prison, Wiltshire, yesterday, Claire Blackman said he was overwhelmed to learn of the flood of support from thousands of people.

My grandfather has been very much in my mind this week as I’ve read about Royal Marine Alexander Blackman, who is serving life for killing a mortally wounded Taliban fighter, writes SARAH VINE.

Sergeant Blackman, who is thought to be the only British serviceman jailed for murder on the battlefield, is serving life for shooting a fatally wounded Taliban insurgent in Afghanistan.

Margaret Leathers, 90, from Bristol, delivered a stark dressing down to military chiefs for their ‘disgusting’ treatment of the ‘heroic’ marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman.

Lord Burnett, who was a Royal Marine commando for seven years, said the court martial which found Alexander Blackman guilty of murder for shooting a wounded Taliban gunman, was flawed.

Cassidy Little said Sergeant Blackman’s life term for shooting a dying insurgent in Afghanistan – with eight years before parole – was disproportionate and ‘must be corrected’.

The leaked report will now form a major plank of Sergeant Alexander Blackman’s battle for justice, which was debated in Parliament yesterday.

Four former marines – including his colleague Cassidy Little, who lost a leg while on patrol in Afghanistan – joined the family of Sergeant Alexander Blackman at Westminster Hall.

Retired headmistress Serena Alexander said everyone in the unit was ‘dreadfully traumatised’ by the tour, which claimed the life of her son Sam, 28, (pictured) and six of his comrades.

Amid an extraordinary outpouring of public generosity, the donation from the former Tory party deputy chairman is the largest single contribution to Sergeant Alexander Blackman's campaign yet.

Research by the Daily Mail shows that dozens of killers, rapists and violent attackers are escaping with much lower sentences than that of Royal Marine Alexander Blackman (pictured).

Lance Corporal Martin Gill, 22, was one of seven Royal Marines killed on the 2011 tour of Helmand Province which ended in Sgt Blackman ‘snapping’ under extreme psychological pressure.

On the same day that Miss Cole was entertaining troops, 90 miles away Sgt Blackman, pictured, shot a dying Taliban fighter and sparked one of the most controversial episodes of the Afghan war.

Sergeant Alexander Blackman, the Royal Marine jailed for murder declared a 'huge thank you' yesterday to Mail readers who have raised £750,000 in less than a month.

Sergeant Alex Blackman went into hell many times for the corps and this country - and he gave the senior officer corps of the Royal Marines his total loyalty, writes FREDERICK FORSYTH.

Defiant servicemen said they would join hundreds of veterans gathering outside Parliament today to demand justice for Sergeant Alexander Blackman, who was jailed for life for murder in 2013.

Of all the demonstrations Parliament Square in London has seen over the years, this was surely one of the most remarkable, writes ROBERT HARDMAN.

More than 1,000 veterans marched to Parliament in support of comrade Alexander Blackman, who is serving eight years for killing a Taliban captive in the heat of battle in Afghanistan in 2011.

The Prince has told friends he is appalled by the treatment of Sergeant Alexander Blackman, 41, who must spend at least eight years behind bars for shooting a fatally wounded enemy combatant in 2011.

Sergeant Alexander Blackman, 41, is serving eight years for killing a wounded Taliban fighter in the heat of battle in Afghanistan in 2011.

Lawyers for Sergeant Alexander Blackman – who was jailed for life for killing a wounded Taliban fighter – are drawing up an application to petition the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Claire Blackman will hand a dossier to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in Birmingham as part of a push to have her husband's case sent back to the Court of Appeal.

The poignant never-before-published image was taken by Sergeant Alexander Blackman, who was jailed for life when he shot dead a wounded Taliban soldier in Afghanistan in 2011.

Claire Blackman, wife of Sgt Alex Blackman - otherwise known as Marine A - said new key evidence is being handed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in Birmingham today.

The battle for justice for Sergeant Alexander Blackman of the Royal Marines continues to stand out as one of the most striking legal campaigns of recent times. Pictured, supporters in Birmingham.

An official review has cast doubt on Sergeant Alexander Blackman's conviction for killing a Taliban insurgent and concluded it could be overturned as a miscarriage of justice.

Colonel Oliver Lee said the court martial that condemned Alexander Blackman to life in prison for murdering a dying Taliban insurgent in Afghanistan was 'not balanced'.

Lawyers will argue Sgt Alexander Blackman, imprisoned for murder for shooting a wounded insurgent in Afghanistan, deserves to be granted bail and reunited with his family.

Alexander Blackman's wife Claire and hundreds of supporters swamped the Royal Courts of Justice in the hope a judge orders his freedom - but the decision was delayed until Wednesday.

KATIE HOPKINS joins Marines, Chelsea Pensioners and the ordinary men and women campaigning to free 'Marine A', Sgt Alexander Blackman.

His wife Claire was in court as the Lord Chief Justice denied his immediate release from prison where he is serving a life sentence for shooting a Taliban fighter.

Former Royal Marine Commando Neal Ascherson has joined the campaign to secure the release of Sgt Alexander Blackman who is serving eight years for killing a wounded Taliban terrorist.

Several ex-SAS war heroes have spoken out in support of Sergeant Alexander Blackman and said they killed badly wounded Argentinian soldiers in the Falklands to 'end their suffering'.

Some 500 supporters were expected to throng The Strand in London in solidarity with the jailed Royal Marine. An even greater number is expected tomorrow.

Alexander Blackman offered his ‘profound and heartfelt’ thanks to Mail readers after learning he will be freed within weeks for killing an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan in 2011.

The decision took a second or two to sink in. Their years of armed combat had left some of the gents in this crowd a little hard of hearing, writes ROBERT HARDMAN.

Sgt Al Blackman, known as Marine A, left HMP Erlestoke, Wiltshire, on the backseat of an Audi car (pictured) just after 12.30am today, having spent 1,277 days behind bars.

Sergeant Blackman was reunited with wife Claire in April after serving 1,277 days behind bars for shooting a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan.