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War crimes trial makes history
A soldier from a Lancashire regiment has become the first in the history of the British armed forces to admit a war crime.
Corporal Donald Payne, 35, of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, yesterday pleaded guilty to inhumane treatment of people in Iraq at the start of a trial involving seven soldiers from the regiment.
Colonel Jorge Mendonca, 42, a former commander of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, which has since been renamed the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, also stands accused of negligently performing a duty.
The charges relate to the death in custody of Iraqi civilian Baha Musa, 26, in Basra, Iraq, in September 2003, and the alleged ill-treatment of other detainees.
A war crimes trial, which is expected to last 16 weeks, opened at the Military Court Centre at Bulford Camp on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.
Coporal Payne is also accused of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice. Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 22, and Private Darren Fallon, 23, are charged with inhumane treatment, while Sergeant Kelvin Stacey, 29, is accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm with an alternative count of common assault. All three belong to the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.
Major Michael Peebles, 35, and Warrant Officer Mark Davies, 37, both of the Intelligence Corps, each face a charge of negligently performing a duty.
The case continues.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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