Aljazeera

A British Royal Marine was found guilty by a military court on Friday of murdering an injured Afghan insurgent. It was the first time a U.K. soldier has been convicted of such a crime related to the war in Afghanistan.

The marine, who will be sentenced next month, faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Two other marines were acquitted of killing the unknown man in Helmand province in 2011. The three were identified in court only as marines A, B and C; their identities have been withheld under an anonymity order.

The victim, already severely injured by an Apache helicopter after an attack on a local patrol base, was shot at close range with a 9 mm pistol by Marine A in a field.

Audio clips from a video showing the killing, inadvertently filmed by Marine B on his helmet camera, were released on Thursday, but the judge blocked the release of the full video evidence to prevent it from being used as propaganda.

In the clips, Marine A can be heard shooting the man and then saying, "There you are. Shuffle off this mortal coil,” a quote from Shakespeare’s "Hamlet."

“It's nothing you wouldn't do to us,” he said, before warning his companions to keep the killing secret.

"Obviously this doesn't go anywhere, fellas. I just broke the Geneva Convention."

Other evidence in the trial was a diary entry by Marine C, in which he described how he felt "mugged off" that he had not been the one to shoot the prisoner.