Marine on assault charge

A Royal Marine has been charged with an attack on an Iraqi asylum seeker following an incident in which another commando was knifed.

The 24-year-old Marine will appear before magistrates in Plymouth on 23 July.

According to police, the incident occurred in Union Street, Plymouth, on 5 June.

Another Iraqi who was at the scene is still being sought by detectives.

The Royal Marine who suffered knife injuries during the incident is still off duty.

He suffered six inch and four inch cuts to his left arm in the incident, and has lost some sensitivity in two of his fingers. He also suffered a head cut.

The incident happened as the servicemen were returning from an event which had been held to raise money for the families of three colleagues killed in Iraq.

The men, from Plymouth-based 3 Commando Brigade, died in a helicopter crash in the early stages of the war in Iraq.