Fury at heavy-handed Iraq abuse investigators

Six soldiers arrested and 20 questioned under caution Officials turn up on families’ doorsteps

SIX soldiers have been arrested and 20 questioned under caution during a controversial taxpayerfunded investigation into the Iraq War, it was revealed yesterday.

Officials acting for the Iraq Historic Allegations Team have even turned up on the doorsteps of veterans’ families to demand information over decade-old allegations.

On occasions, they have threatened relatives with arrest. Disturbing accounts of Ihat’s heavy-handed tactics have added to the growing fury over the continued existence of the inquiry and the hounding of British soldiers.

Yesterday, it emerged that a decorated female ex-Army officer had been restrained in her own home during a raid related to an Ihat investigation.

Some MPs have called for the entire enterprise to be scrapped, particularly as many of the original complaints were submitted by the now-defunct law firm Public Interest Lawyers.

Last night, Theresa May intervened for the first time to warn the £57million probe it must not pursue ‘vexatious’ cases which subject British troops to years of torment. The PM stopped short of saying Ihat should be scrapped, but defended the Armed Forces and their conduct overseas, saying Ihat must ensure it does not encourage ‘an industry of vexatious allegations coming forward’.

The Mail told yesterday how a decorated major, on sick leave for stress, has become so tormented by a decade-long witchhunt that he has told Defence Secretary Michael Fallon he would rather face a war crimes trial in the Hague as he would have a better chance of a fair trial.

He is still being pursued over the drowning of an Iraqi teenager in Basra 13 years ago, despite having been cleared by an inquiry in 2006.

Other veterans have told how they have faced up to five investigations into one incident, and have said they felt they were ‘hung out to dry’ by the Army.

Lawyers for some of the troops involved said Ihat investigators had turned up at family homes and barracks gates to demand information or threaten arrest.

Solicitor Hilary Meredith said: ‘In one harrowing incident they appeared at an ex-girlfriend’s house and interviewed her on whether her former partner had tattoos, was abusive or talked in his sleep.’

Yesterday, an Ihat spokesman revealed that six soldiers had been arrested during its inquiries – four by appointment in one investigation, and two without warning as part of two separate investigations.

Ihat itself does not have the power to arrest but can send military police. It then interviews suspects.

The spokesman said 20 troops were cautioned as potential suspects and said they were usually asked to attend interviews voluntarily. They are cautioned before interview so they know anything they say can be used against them if they are prosecuted. No member of Ihat has lost their job or faced disciplinary action over their conduct to serving troops or veterans. But five employees from Red Snapper, the firm paid £5million a year to recruit former police officers as Ihat investigators, have left in the last 12 months. Their departures were linked to ‘wider performance-related issues raised by the Ihat management team’, a spokesman said.

The probe was set up by the Government in 2010 and is now looking at around 1,500 cases of alleged criminality by British troops during the Iraq War.

Downing Street has said it wants the inquiry’s work to be completed by 2019, and Mrs May said it had been told to ‘focus on cases where there may be questions of allegations which are not the vexatious ones and report within the timescale’.

Speaking in New York, the PM said: ‘We should be absolutely proud of the fact that we have in our Armed Forces men and women who are willing to put themselves on the line for our safety and do things that most of us would not contemplate being willing to do in terms of our own safety. But what is important is, if there are allegations – proper allegations – of criminal activity those need to be investigated. What we do need to make sure is that there isn’t an industry of vexatious allegations coming forward.’

WITCH-HUNT AGAINST OUR HEROES

WHEN the odious Phil Shiner’s ambulance-chasing law firm ceased trading last month, the Mail hoped we were seeing an end to the hounding of British soldiers over their conduct in the heat of battle more than a decade ago. But still their ordeal drags on.

As Sgt Alexander Blackman languishes in jail, awaiting a long-delayed decision on whether or not he can appeal against his conviction for murder, three more soldiers face prosecution over the drowning of an Iraqi teenager 13 years ago.

This is despite the fact that they were cleared of any wrongdoing in 2006, after a three-year inquiry.

Meanwhile, the Iraq Historic Allegations Team continues to work through a backlog of some 1,500 cases, more than 1,000 of them brought by Mr Shiner’s utterly discredited Public Interest Lawyers.

As for IHAT’s ruthless methods, it emerged yesterday that its investigators arrested and humiliated a female Army captain in a dawn raid on her home, simply for declining to testify against a former colleague.

So appalling is our treatment of the heroes who risk their lives for us that a decorated major embroiled in the drowning case has volunteered to face a war crimes trial in the Hague, rather than endure more of the torment and delays inflicted on him by his own country.

This is why the Mail welcomes Theresa May’s warning that IHAT must act swiftly to reject vexatious cases against soldiers whose lives are blighted by the threat of prosecution. But after all these years, shouldn’t she go further – and close down the investigation altogether? How can justice so long delayed be anything but justice denied?