Soldiers guilty of abuse

Three British soldiers are facing jail today after being found guilty of serious abuse of Iraqi prisoners in their charge.

A court-martial convicted Lance Corporal Mark Cooley of "disgraceful conduct of a cruel kind" after seeing pictures of him abusing and humiliating Iraqi detainees. Corporal Daniel Kenyon was convicted of failing to report the abuse but cleared on a more serious charge.

The Iraqis were stripped, subjected to simulated punching and forced to simulate sex with each other. A third soldier, Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, 30, was pictured standing on top of a semi-naked prisoner and pleaded guilty to beating an unknown detainee. All three servicemen are from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

The pictures, broadcast around the world, were condemned by the Prime Minister as "appalling," prompting a warning from the judge advocate trying the case that public figures should not comment on the case.

L-Cpl Cooley, 25, from Newcastle, who has a previous conviction for assault, was found guilty of simulating a punch at an Iraqi detainee and hoisting a terrified and trussed-up prisoner on the prongs of a forklift truck.

He had claimed he was moving the man out of the sun's glare. Cpl Kenyon, 33, also from Newcastle, was cleared of twice aiding and abetting others to force two naked Iraqis into simulated sex. But he was found guilty of failing to report the abuse and aiding and abetting L-Cpl Darren Larkin to assault a prisoner.

The seven-strong court-martial panel, sitting in Osnabruck, Germany, delivered the guilty verdicts after a trial lasting nearly a month. Sentences are expected to be passed on Friday. The court president, Judge Advocate Michael Hunter, said the men could face sentences of between six months and two years.

The convictions spelt disgrace for two men with distinguished service records. Cpl Kenyon was considered for a mention during the Iraq war after defusing a remote-controlled bomb. L-Cpl Larkin was also in line for a bravery award for his conduct during the war.

Both now face dismissal in disgrace. The incidents took place at a supply depot known as Camp Bread Basket, in Basra, southern Iraq, nearly two years ago.

The camp was being stripped by looters and the Army launched what it called " Operation Ali Baba," a reference to the story Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, to control the looting.

The court rejected Cooley's defence that he had been obeying orders. The court heard that the men's commanding officer, Major Dan Taylor, said the prisoners should be "worked hard," an illegal order under the Geneva Convention.

The 22 graphic photographs emerged after the men's colleague, Fusilier Gary Bartlam, handed in a roll of film to be developed in Tamwor th, Staffordshire. The shop assistant handed them to the police.

Fusilier Bartlam pleaded guilty at a separate court-martial and was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.

Cpl Kenyon, who served in the first Gulf War and Bosnia, told the court he had no training in how to handle prisoners.