Lawyers chasing payout for Taliban bombmaker aren’t even sure he’s alive

BRITISH lawyers chasing compensation for a Taliban bombmaker do not even know if he is still alive, it emerged last night.

Serdar Mohammed has been unreachable in afghanistan for three years.

But despite this, law firm leigh Day has continued to fight the Ministry of Defence on his behalf in the UK courts.

They were forced to admit at a hearing in the High Court in January that they had not heard from their client, also known as Mullah Gulmad, for a long time.

at the hearing, Mr Justice leggatt handed down an order which gave the firm until July 26 to find him or the case will be struck out.

Mohammed was jailed by a court in Kabul in 2010 after being convicted of terrorist offences. He has alleged he was tortured into giving a false confession.

He was released under an amnesty in 2014.

leigh Day claim the MoD breached his human rights by detaining him for too long.

Four years of legal wrangling in the High Court and the Supreme Court has so far cost the MoD – and therefore taxpayers – around £1million. last night the MoD slammed the law firm for wasting taxpayers’ money. a spokesman said: ‘We are disappointed that the judge chose not to strike out this case, despite recognising that it is an abuse of process for a claimant to maintain a claim without any intention of bringing it promptly to trial. It is totally unacceptable that leigh Day waited over three years before acknowledging that they have had no contact with the claimant, and that taxpayers’ money has been wasted.’

last night Tory MP and former army captain Johnny Mercer said: ‘It is not even clear if this man is still alive and yet British taxpayers’ money is still being spent on this case. This is another high profile example of lawfare gone mad.’

Mohammed is a test case to determine whether the UK military acted within the law when it detained suspected insurgents during the 13-year campaign.

The MoD said Mohammed helped make explosives on an ‘industrial scale’ during the war and was covered in bomb dust when he was captured. He was detained for 106 days without charge before being handed over to the afghan authorities and later jailed for ten years.

But leigh Day has argued his detention for 106 days was in breach of his human rights.

at the hearing in January, his solicitors are understood to have said they could not meet court deadlines for filling in papers for a civil claim because they had lost contact.

In a statement leigh Day said: ‘There are very significant difficulties in communicating with individuals in many parts of afghanistan due to security issues and lack of infrastructure. as we have made known to the court, we have been unable to contact our client for a period of time and are engaging an international investigator to establish his circumstances.’

The firm said the case was relevant to a further 19 they are conducting linked to UK forces. Mohammed was captured during a ten-hour firefight. Three British soldiers were wounded in the battle.

The insurgent was sentenced to 16 years, which was reduced on appeal to ten years.

He was released early and reunited with his family at his farm in the Kajaki district of Helmand Province.

leigh Day have argued that Mohammed should not have been held for longer than 96 hours under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

In July 2015, the Court of appeal ruled in leigh Day’s favour, saying afghans were detained unlawfully, but the MoD challenged the decision. one court hearing heard how he was treated as a prisoner of war under the Geneva Convention.

But his lawyers argued that the ECHR, of which Britain is a signatory, should take precedence.

The case went to the Supreme Court and in January last year judges ruled that troops had acted lawfully in holding insurgents for longer than specified under the ECHR.

Mohammed is also understood to have lodged criminal allegations of ill-treatment against British troops as part of a taxpayer-funded probe into claims arising out of afghanistan called operation northmoor. UK soldiers who detained him could be prosecuted as a result.

‘Captured during a ten-hour firefight’