A former British soldier accused of shooting dead two colleagues in Iraq is just as much a victim as the men he allegedly murdered, his family said.
Daniel Fitzsimons was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and should never have been given a job as a private security guard in the country, his father and stepmother said.
The 29-year-old was arrested by Iraqi police after the attack in Baghdad's International Zone last Sunday which left two fellow ArmorGroup employees dead and a third injured.
The ex-paratrooper, who served eight years in the forces in Kosovo and Iraq, faces a possible death penalty in Iraq for the alleged double murder.
His father and stepmother, Eric and Liz, told ITV News their son is tormented by his experiences in war zones and should never have been allowed to return to one.
Mrs Fitzsimons said: "We are desperately sorry for the two men who have been shot, but Daniel is just as much a victim in this.
"We know the state of mind he will be in and he will be struggling. It is just a horrible, horrible situation. We need to get Daniel back here. He is a very, very poorly young man."
Her husband said that his son has been mentally scarred and suffers from paranoia.
"There was one experience he has related over and over again which was that he found the body of child in a fridge," he said.
Since his arrest, it has emerged Fitzsimons was also facing a possible jail term in Britain and has a conviction for firearms offences.
