Iraq major wrongly accused of drowning a teenager champions 30 former soldiers by suing MoD for £20m
A RETIRED Army officer investigated over bogus Iraq war crimes is to launch a landmark £20 million legal case against the Ministry of Defence.
Maj Robert Campbell, a decorated soldier, said he went through “18 years of hell” and “wanted to die” after he was accused of drowning an Iraqi teenager, Saeed Shabram, in Basra in 2003.
The veteran was exonerated last year following a judicial probe by the Iraq Fatality Investigations team. The judge ruled that Saeed either jumped or fell into the water, and his family may have been misled by unreliable witnesses.
Maj Campbell is now leading a group legal action on behalf of 30 veterans, who were also smeared by false war crimes allegations, against the MoD and the professional indemnity insurers of disgraced human rights lawyer Phil Shiner.
Letters of claim are due to be sent out this month, with combined damages sought by the group totalling £20million. Shiner was struck off in 2017 after being found guilty of misconduct and dishonesty relating to false abuse claims against troops. He was behind many of the 3,500 allegations made following the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
This is the first time that such a large group of veterans has sued the MoD over war crimes. They are seeking payouts to cover loss of earnings and pension entitlements, on the grounds that the MoD breached its duty of care by allowing what was widely seen as a “witch hunt”.
The case could pave the way for thousands of other veterans falsely accused of war crimes to sue the MoD.
Maj Campbell’s exoneration by the Iraq Fatality Investigations team came after the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), an organisation set up by the Government in 2010, failed to result in the prosecution of any soldier.
It was branded an “unmitigated failure” by MPs on the House of Commons defence select committee. Maj Campbell was granted medical discharge from the Army in 2018 and was diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety and depression. He is now unable to work
“On behalf of my soldiers, and the thousands of others who were falsely accused, I am now bringing legal action after enduring 18 years of hell,” he said.
“I faced unending false allegations and investigations which completely broke me. Whenever I asked for help, everyone in the MoD said that it was somebody else’s problem. At this point I just wanted to die. Our ordeal seemed endless.” The group bringing legal action against the MoD includes former colour sergeant Brian Wood, who won a Military Cross for bravery but was later investigated for murder. The father of two’s ordeal is recounted in the BBC drama Danny Boy.
Hilary Meredith, the solicitor acting on behalf of the veterans, said: “The conduct of the IHAT is one of the most shameful episodes in modern legal history. Thousands of British soldiers were falsely accused of war crimes. The whole investigation was a witch hunt based on deceit.
“The MoD has clearly breached the duty of care it owes to our service personnel and veterans. They owe a duty of care in law, under the military covenant, morally and ethically to stand by those who serve. Instead, they allowed the IHAT to pursue innocent troops with false evidence of vile war crimes.
“The falsely accused have paid a huge price – shattered lives, broken marriages, ruined finances, stalled careers, poor mental and physical health.”
Maj Campbell added: “Once the chain of command had failed us, I tried writing to defence ministers to inform them what IHAT was doing and how we had been discarded by the Army.
“Those that did reply all responded the same way: ‘All allegations of wrongdoing must be investigated’ and they were not going to help. We were alone.
“I tried to be the best officer I could be and received four separate awards during my career for bomb disposal.
“These awards and medals became meaningless by the constant accusations, so in 2017 I returned my medals to the Queen in protest. I struggled to deal with the repeated investigations.
“We have all been broken by this appalling process and as a result, all of my innocent soldiers were driven from the Army and have received treatment for mental health conditions. This was on top of the violence of our operational tours. Thousands of blameless soldiers have been abandoned by the Army on false allegations by Phil Shiner, and no one has ever received any acknowledgement or apology.”
The Ministry of Defence was contacted for comment.