A BRITISH SECURITY CONTRACTOR who was convicted of killing two of his colleagues in Iraq in 2009 has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Danny Fitzsimons, 31, was found guilty of shooting security colleagues Australian Darren Hoare and Briton Paul McGuigan dead in Baghdad in August 2009 after an argument, the Guardian reports.

He was also convicted of attempting to murder a third person, an Iraqi guard, as he attempted to escape the scene.

Fitzsimons had arrived in Iraq less than 36 hours before the incident, although he had worked there before.

Al Jazeera reports that Fitzsimons said he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the army and the court took this into account.

ArmorGroup, the British security company Fitzsimons, Hoare and McGuigan worked for, said it was contributing to the legal costs of all three.

Fitzsimons could have been executed for the killings. His lawyer told the Guardian that he would appeal the sentence and is optimistic about having it reduced to 15 years. He also said British authorities were working to have Fitzimons transferred to a British prison.

He is the first westerner to be convicted since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

After 17 people were shot dead in an incident involving the US security firm Blackwater – which has since been re-named Xe – Iraqi authorities removed security contractors’ immunity.