DyNasty
11-09-2004, 02:18 PM
If this does'nt take the cake... Opinions? :eek:
FURY erupted last night after a 21-year-old British soldier became the first serviceman to be charged with murder in Iraq.
Trooper Kevin Williams is said to have shot a man smuggling anti-aircraft shells in a handcart as he fled an Army patrol.
It is thought the shells were destined for Iraqi resistance fighters and for use against Allied invasion troops.
But now Trooper Williams, who appeared before magistrates yesterday, will face an Old Bailey trial and mandatory life sentence if convicted.
Williams, believed to have a girlfriend in Burnley, allegedly shot Iraqi Hassan Said in the chest when he tried to flee the patrol of Royal Tank Regiment soldiers in Ad Dayr, 25 miles north of Basra.
An Army source said: “Five or six men were towing the cart. When challenged, three or four ran, leaving two. They were questioned and anti-aircraft ammunition, thought to be from a secret arms dump, was found. When the remaining men ran towards the town, trooper Williams and a Military policeman gave chase.”
The source said a shot was fired in an ensuing struggle in August last year.
The Army was last night reeling with rage over the murder charge.
The tank driver, a member of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, had already been cleared by a full Royal Military Police probe into Said’s death.
His Commanding Officer Lt Col Piers Harkinson ruled he had no case to answer.
But the decision was over-ruled by lawyers for the Army Prosecuting Authority.
They passed the files to the Attorney General’s office who asked the CPS and Metropolitan Police to re-open the investigation as a murder probe.
It is the first time in memory, and possibly ever, that a CO on war fighting operations has been over-ruled on such a charge by civilian authorities.
One senior officer said last night: “This has only happened because the Government has decided we must be whiter-than-white, as a result of bad publicity surrounding prisoner abuse.
“It is a desperately sad day. The fear is politics is being put above the reality of soldiering. That is inexcusable.”
At the time of the death, the Army’s Rules of Engagement in Basra allowed soldiers to fire if they thought their safety or that of colleagues was at risk.
Williams, who sources said has not been suspended from duties, yesterday appeared in custody at London’s Bow Street Magistrates Court.
District Judge Daphne Wickham granted bail, ordering Williams to stay at his garrison in Catterick, North Yorks, until his next court date on September 28.
A spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s office said he was the only British soldier being dealt with by the domestic courts.
Asked about claims of misconduct in Iraq, PM Tony Blair said yesterday: “Anyone who commits a criminal offence will be charged.”
FURY erupted last night after a 21-year-old British soldier became the first serviceman to be charged with murder in Iraq.
Trooper Kevin Williams is said to have shot a man smuggling anti-aircraft shells in a handcart as he fled an Army patrol.
It is thought the shells were destined for Iraqi resistance fighters and for use against Allied invasion troops.
But now Trooper Williams, who appeared before magistrates yesterday, will face an Old Bailey trial and mandatory life sentence if convicted.
Williams, believed to have a girlfriend in Burnley, allegedly shot Iraqi Hassan Said in the chest when he tried to flee the patrol of Royal Tank Regiment soldiers in Ad Dayr, 25 miles north of Basra.
An Army source said: “Five or six men were towing the cart. When challenged, three or four ran, leaving two. They were questioned and anti-aircraft ammunition, thought to be from a secret arms dump, was found. When the remaining men ran towards the town, trooper Williams and a Military policeman gave chase.”
The source said a shot was fired in an ensuing struggle in August last year.
The Army was last night reeling with rage over the murder charge.
The tank driver, a member of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, had already been cleared by a full Royal Military Police probe into Said’s death.
His Commanding Officer Lt Col Piers Harkinson ruled he had no case to answer.
But the decision was over-ruled by lawyers for the Army Prosecuting Authority.
They passed the files to the Attorney General’s office who asked the CPS and Metropolitan Police to re-open the investigation as a murder probe.
It is the first time in memory, and possibly ever, that a CO on war fighting operations has been over-ruled on such a charge by civilian authorities.
One senior officer said last night: “This has only happened because the Government has decided we must be whiter-than-white, as a result of bad publicity surrounding prisoner abuse.
“It is a desperately sad day. The fear is politics is being put above the reality of soldiering. That is inexcusable.”
At the time of the death, the Army’s Rules of Engagement in Basra allowed soldiers to fire if they thought their safety or that of colleagues was at risk.
Williams, who sources said has not been suspended from duties, yesterday appeared in custody at London’s Bow Street Magistrates Court.
District Judge Daphne Wickham granted bail, ordering Williams to stay at his garrison in Catterick, North Yorks, until his next court date on September 28.
A spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s office said he was the only British soldier being dealt with by the domestic courts.
Asked about claims of misconduct in Iraq, PM Tony Blair said yesterday: “Anyone who commits a criminal offence will be charged.”