ArmorGroup Statement - Update on Iraq Incident - 9th August 2009

LONDON, September 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Immediately following the incident that took place in Iraq on 9th August 2009, in which two valued colleagues, Paul McGuigan and Darren Hoare, were shot and killed and another, Arkhan Mahdi, seriously injured, we instigated two separate internal investigations - this was is in addition to the ongoing investigation by the Iraqi authorities.

Our internal investigations have now been completed and a number of actions have resulted.

Until now, Daniel Fitzsimons, the man accused of the shootings, has been suspended from employment, pending the findings of the investigation. We can confirm that Mr Fitzsimons has now been dismissed from the company on the grounds of gross misconduct.

Although Mr Fitzsimons is no longer an employee of the company, we are doing what we can to ensure that his human rights are met whilst in Iraqi custody by providing him with food, water, clothing and toiletries.

Another employee has also been dismissed on the grounds of gross misconduct.

We have also carried out a detailed investigation into our screening policy and processes. We are unable to reveal the contents of Mr Fitzsimons' employment file for data protection reasons. However, we can confirm that in this particular case, there is evidence that Mr Fitzsimons falsified information during the recruitment process and that his screening was not completed in line with the company's procedures.

ArmorGroup has implemented additional checks to its processes as a result of this investigation with immediate effect to ensure that the appropriate screening is always completed before a person is employed.

Those responsible for ensuring the quality of employee screening have left the company, having resigned from their positions.

This is a tragic and unprecedented incident and our thoughts are with the families of those involved. We are doing everything we can to help them through this difficult time.

Notes to Editors:

ArmorGroup Iraq

ArmorGroup Iraq (AGI), has provided protective security, stabilisation and post-conflict reconstruction services to government and commercial organisations in Iraq since 2003. AGI is legally registered and licensed to operate by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior (MoI) and Ministry of Trade (MoT) and with the Kurdish Regional Government Ministry of Interior. AGI is one of the largest protective security companies in Iraq with 1000 fully vetted and licensed employees, of whom 95 are former British servicemen and over 800 are Iraqis.

SOURCE ArmorGroup