Brit security guard who shot dead two colleagues in Iraq is jailed for 20 ... - Mirror.co.uk

A BRITISH security worker who murdered two colleagues in Iraq escaped a death sentence yesterday.

Danny Fitzsimons was jailed for a minimum of 20 years after gunning down Paul McGuigan and Darren Hoare during a booze-fuelled row.

As the 31-year-old was led from court he said he was "happy" to have avoided the gallows. But his worried step-mum Liz told how he has threatened to kill himself if he is sent to jail with terrorists.

Fitzsimons is terrified he will be thrown into ­Baghdad's Rusafa prison – a notorious hellhole that houses al-Qaeda killers and thugs – because he is a former paratrooper.

Liz said she was "euphoric" he escaped the death penalty but added: "Danny has been constantly saying he cannot end up in Rusafa jail.

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"He said it's full of al-Qaeda, Taliban, Mujahideen. He said, 'I will be a target' and 'I just won't last'. He said, 'I will be a dead man if they put me in there'. He has also said that if they talk about putting him in Rusafa jail he will take his own life first."

Fitzsimons, of Rochdale, Gtr Manchester, was found guilty of murder and could still face the hangman if ­prosecutors appeal against his sentence and win.

He was working for private security group ArmourGroup when he shot dead Brit Paul and Aussie Darren in August 2009. ­Fitzsimons told a court they had been drinking whisky when a fight broke out. But he claimed he acted in self-defence as the two men pulled their pistols first. Covered in blood, the former soldier fled the scene and headed for the British embassy but was stopped by an Iraqi guard who pointed a rifle at him and ordered him to stop. He shot the guard in the leg.

Fitzsimons' family claim he should not have been allowed to go to Iraq as he had mental health issues after being discharged from the Army with post-traumatic stress disorder.

He is the first Westerner to stand trial in the country since a 2009 US-Iraqi agreement lifted immunity for foreigners. Asked if he thought the trial was fair, he replied: "No."