Ex-minister admits hooding ‘inaccuracy’
By politics.co.uk staff
A former armed forces minister has admitted giving inaccurate information to parliament at the Baha Mousa inquiry.
Adam Ingram, who was in power in September 2003 when the Iraqi hotel receptionist died in British custody, told the inquiry that he believed it was “correct” that information in a parliamentary answer was not accurate.
He had said hooding was only used during the transit of prisoners, but a secret memo released to the inquiry which Mr Ingram had been copied in on stated Mr Mousa had been hooded for nearly 24 of the 36 hours before he died.
“[Hooding] could have been used within an interrogation area for the security of the individual because that individual may be coming to give evidence… it’s clearly not a very precise term,” he said.
Mr Mousa’s body was found dead two days after his arrest by British Army soldiers serving in Basra, southern Iraq.
The 26-year-old had been asphyxiated and his post-mortem showed 93 identifiable injuries. The inquiry investigating the circumstances of his death continues.
