Nightmare over at last for accused Army Major

WESTCOUNTRY MP and veterans minister Johnny Mercer has welcomed a report which clears a decorated Army Major of drowning an Iraqi teenager, following a 17-year investigation.

Major Robert Campbell has been exonerated after the latest official inquiry into the death of 19-year-old Saeed Radhi Shabram Wawi Al-Bazooni in Basra in May 2003.

The judge who compiled the report, Baroness Hallett, suggested “inherently unreliable” local witnesses may have conspired against him.

Mr Mercer, the MP for Plymouth Moor View, said in a statement: “My thanks go to Baroness Hallett for compiling this report, which concludes there is not enough reliable evidence of any British soldier contributing to the tragic death of Saeed Shabram. I truly hope these findings will bring some closure and reassurance to the family and veterans involved in this process.”

Mr Mercer has been a champion of the Overseas Operations Bill, which was debated in the House of Commons this week. It aims to give protection from vexatious claims against British servicemen and women, and veterans. Mr Mercer said: “‘Nobody wants to see service personnel or veterans facing extensive reinvestigations into the same incident, and our Overseas Operations Bill will help provide greater certainty and protections in the future.”

Eye witnesses claimed Maj Campbell and colleagues from the 32 Royal Engineer Regiment forced the victim, known as Saeed Shabram, and friend Munem Auda into a river at gunpoint having suspected them of looting near the former marine base in Basra.

Mr Auda swam to safety but Mr

Shabram slipped below the water and did not resurface, prompting the investigation into Maj Campbell, who later described being “broken” by the lengthy and repeated investigations into his conduct.

But in her report former appeal court judge Baroness Hallett decided there was “no reliable evidence upon which it would be proper to conclude that (Maj Campbell) or any other British soldier pushed or forced Auda and Shabram into the water”.

She added: “It is most likely that they jumped or fell into the water in the process of trying to escape what they believed would be dire punishment for looting.”

Maj Campbell told the BBC: “I am relieved that after eight investigations we have finally been exonerated. But I am angry that it took eight investigations, 17 years and destroyed my career.”

The report found that a number of civilian witnesses came forward to give evidence against Maj Campbell, claiming they had seen British soldiers push Mr Shabram into the water.

But Baroness Hallett said in her report: “I have concluded that there is clear evidence of collusion and possibly a conspiracy on the part of some Iraqi civilians to pervert the course of justice and the collusion/conspiracy likely began on the day Shabram died.”

Maj Campbell sent his campaign medals back to the Queen “in disgust” as investigations into his conduct - including by the discredited and now defunct Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) - continued. British and American troops were in Basra following the fall of Saddam Hussein.