Tim Collins: Soldiers stymied by legal fears
BRITISH troops are finding it increasingly difficult to do their job for fear of being prosecuted, the former Army officer who gave a famously stirring eve-of-battle speech at the start of the Iraq War has warned. Col Tim Collins said serving security personnel were being “stymied” by the fear of being hauled through the courts after using lethal force against suspected terrorists.
He spoke as it emerged that five serving SAS soldiers face possible murder charges over the death of a suspected jihadist in Syria. They have reportedly been arrested on suspicion of alleged war crimes following the suspect’s death. The soldiers, who remain on active duty, are claimed to have said he posed a threat and feared he intended to carry out a suicide attack.
Following an investigation, files recommending murder charges against the five were reportedly sent to the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA), the military equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service. If charged, the men would appear at court martial.
Col Collins, who served in the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment, in the first
Gulf War, Kosovo and the Iraq War, said he feared that what appeared to be a growing tendency towards bringing prosecutions against serving personnel for incidents carried out in the line of duty would have a damaging effect on their ability to operate effectively in defending the UK.
Col Collins, who would not comment directly on the case involving the five SAS soldiers, told The Telegraph: “We are reaching the stage where serving personnel are being stymied in what they can do for fear of prosecution.
“I feel for every soldier that faces the prospect of losing their lives in defence of their country and comes against people who want to kill them, because the notion that the security forces can rightfully resort to lethal force against people who set out to murder innocent civilians is now being turned on its head. We now seem to be reaching the situation where Islamist terrorists will be lauded while the Army will be made to take the blame for their deaths, when in reality people like Islamic State are criminals.”
There is understood to be anger within Special Forces units over the treatment of the soldiers after it emerged that senior officers claimed they should have arrested the suspect.
The soldiers are understood to have claimed that he posed a threat and intended to carry out a suicide attack when he was shot. A primed suicide vest was reportedly found nearby, but the suspect was not wearing it when he was killed in what the soldier said followed an exchange of fire.
Citing the example of the 2017 Westminster attack, when a terror suspect was shot dead by an armed police officer, Col Collins said: “I would now be very nervous if I was a police officer, for example, taking on and thinking of using lethal force on an Islamist terrorist in Parliament Square because of the potential repercussions for me.”
Col Collins, added: “To suggest that people should be arrested is ludicrous in circumstances where people are heavily armed and wearing body armour and carrying weapons they intend to use.”
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) said it could not comment on individual investigations. An MOD spokesman said: “We hold our personnel to the highest standards and any allegations of wrongdoing are taken seriously. Where appropriate, any criminal allegations are referred to the Service Police for investigation.”