British soldiers cleared of murder
Seven British soldiers accused of murder in Iraq have been cleared, after the judge ruled the evidence against them was “too inherently weak and vague”.
They had been on trial accused of beating an Iraqi teenager to death using rifle butts at a town north of the British military base of Basra in May 2003.
But at the specially convened military court in Colchester, judge advocate general Jeff Blackett ordered the panel considering the court martial to clear the defendants of all seven charges, saying there was insufficient evidence to convict them.
He said: “In relation to all the defendants, after discarding the evidence that is too inherently weak or vague for any sensible person to rely on it, prosecution evidence taken at its highest is such that a reasonable jury or court martial board properly directed could never reach the high standard of proof required to be sure of the guilt of any defendant.
“In those circumstances it is my duty to remove the case from the board now and direct that they return verdicts of not guilty to the charge of murder against all seven defendants.”
The soldiers, all members of the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, had stood accused of murdering 18-year-old Nadhem Abdullah after an alleged attack on a group of Iraqi civilians.
The case, which has cost taxpayers an estimated £10 million, had threatened to raise more questions about soldiers’ behaviour in Iraq in the continuing aftermath of the Abu Ghraib jail scandal.
However, corporal Scott Evans, 32, private Billy Nerney, 24, Samuel May, 25, Morne Vosloo, 26, Daniel Harding, 25, Roberto Di-Gregorio, 24 and Scott Jackson, 26 have now all been cleared of the charges.
