G4S guard ‘unlawfully killed’ by improperly vetted colleague

A Scottish security guard was unlawfully killed by his colleague who had not been properly vetted to work in Iraq, a coroner ruled today.

The inquest into the 2009 death of Paul McGuigan concluded he had been unlawfully killed.

It also ruled that the killer had not been adequately managed by the probation service.

Danny Fitzsimons, from Rochdale, is serving a 20-year sentence in Iraq for murdering Paul McGuigan, 37, and Australian Darren Hoare, 37, within hours of arriving in Baghdad on August 9 2009.

All three were employed by G4S-owned ArmorGroup.

‘We’ve never had an apology’

After the inquest into Mr McGuigan’s death ended, his mother, Corinne Boyd-Russell, criticised the firm for its failings and said they had yet to apologise to her family.

“I have always said that Danny pulled the trigger but he’s not the only one with my son’s blood on his hands,” she said.

“G4S is the third largest private sector employer in the world. It’s time these rich and powerful organisations were properly accountable and that should start with an apology to all of us, to Paul’s family.

“We’ve never had an apology after five and a half years.”