Guantanamo 15-year-old gets £6m payout

A TORONTO-BORN man held at Guantánamo Bay after admitting killing a US soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15 is to receive an apology and a reported $10.5 million (£6.3 million) compensation from the Canadian government.

The country’s supreme court ruled seven years ago that the participation of officials in his interrogation “offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects.”

Mr Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured by US forces following fighting during which Sgt Christopher Speer, an American soldier, was killed in July 2002. Despite hundreds of US soldiers having died in Afghanistan, Mr Khadr was the only captive to be charged with murder. Mr Khadr pleaded guilty in 2010 and was released in 2015, having appealed against his conviction which he said was based on a confession made under duress.