... but here’s a girl soldier who knows just what a witch-hunt feels like
A DECORATED former Army captain has made an emotional appeal to Theresa May, calling on her to end the ‘bloated, discredited and damaging witch-hunt’ of British troops.
Rachel Webster said it was time to shut down the controversial £57million inquiry into allegations of historic abuse during the Iraq war.
Miss Webster, who completed four tours of duty including in Iraq and Afghanistan and received a Commander’s commendation for her work with rape victims in Kosovo, was arrested by the now largely discredited Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat). She was never charged and was awarded damages after complaining of being roughly treated and humiliated during a dawn raid on her home in January 2014.
Yesterday, she said she was taking further legal action against the Ministry of Defence for her treatment at the hands of Ihat. Miss Webster said the team, which was set up by the Government in 2010 to investigate cases of alleged mistreatment and unlawful killings of Iraqis, had ‘mutated into an unstoppable double-jeopardy juggernaut, running dangerously out of control’.
Ihat has received more than 3,000 allegations against British troops, the vast majority of which were submitted by a discredited law- yer who has admitted paying a fixer to find Iraqis willing to smear British servicemen.
Standing outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Miss Webster fought back tears as her barrister, David Taylor, read out a statement on her behalf.
‘Christmas is a difficult time for the armed services and their families and this is not helped by the ongoing and unnecessary Ihat investigations,’ he said.
‘Rachel firmly believes that the British Armed Forces are the best in the world and yet they have faced thousands of unwarranted allegations of criminal conduct.
‘The Attorney General was asked recently to name another country that had an Ihat or similar – he couldn’t name one. That is because Ihat is a very British aberration.’
He said Miss Webster believed Ihat’s investigations had interrupted the lives and ‘frazzled’ the mental health of thousands of military personnel.
‘Of course there has to be a mechanism for investigating historic war crimes, but Ihat is not it,’ Mr Taylor said. ‘You don’t smash down an orchard of the finest fruit to try to find a few rotten apples.
‘Now Ihat, like a dog with a bone, just won’t let go. It ludicrously suggests that the European Court and the International Criminal Court are forcing it to pursue trumped upclaims from discredited lawyers. But Ihat has already played too large a part in this shabby selfperpetuating circus of tank-chasing solicitors, dubious fixers and retired policemen who have contrived to catch the Armed Services in its crossfire.’
Mr Taylor said Miss Webster, 48, felt Ihat had lost its credibility to investigate and attempts to make it fairer had failed.
‘You can put lipstick on a pitbull but it will still bite you,’ he said. ‘Rachel calls for an end to this self-inflicted military fiasco and that an enquiry be ordered to see what went so badly wrong.
‘Theresa May said recently that the bravest of the brave would be protected. Rachel Webster served her country well for 24 years… she is one of the bravest of the brave.
‘So she calls upon the Prime Minister, an honourable woman who, like Rachel, has spent her whole life defending British values and protecting British lives, to shut down Ihat now and put an end to this bloated, discredited and damaging witch-hunt.’
Ihat has admitted its arrest of Miss Webster was ‘unnecessary’. She was held for three months after refusing to give a witness statement to investigators probing allegations against an ex-boyfriend. Investigators arrived unannounced at her home in the early hours and arrested her on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. During a tussle with officers, she alleged her breasts were exposed, leaving her ‘shocked and humiliated’. She said her treatment was ‘tantamount to being kidnapped by the State’.
Miss Webster was never charged and was later awarded £5,000 in damages from the MoD for wrongful arrest and detention. It is understood her legal team will commence proceedings against the MoD over physical and psychological harm after Christmas.
Miss Webster joined the Royal Military Police in 1988 and rose to the rank of captain. She was honoured for her work in Kosovo in 1999 and left the Army in 2013 to pursue a career in finance.