Corporal pleads guilty to Iraq war crimes charges

Corporal Donald Payne today pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating Iraqi civilians arrested as a result of Operation Salerno.

The opening of today's court martial marks the first time that British servicemen have been prosecuted for war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act (ICCA) 2001.

Three of the men, including Corporal Payne, are charged with inhumane treatment brought as a war crime under ICCA.

The charges against all the defendants - including two officers - relate to the death in custody of Baha Musa, 26, an Iraqi civilian, in Basra, southern Iraq, in September 2003, and to the alleged ill-treatment of other detainees.

Corporal Payne, 35, formerly of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment now of the renamed Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, admitted the charge of inhumanely treating civilians but pleaded not guilty to the charges of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.

His six co-defendants all pleaded not guilty to the charges facing them. The offence to which Corporal Payne pleaded guilty took place between September 13 2003 and September 16 in Basra, Iraq.

Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 22, of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, denies a charge of inhumane treatment, as does Private Darren Fallon, 23, of the same regiment.

All other matters faced by Payne and his six co-defendants are alleged offences under the British Army Act 1955.

Sergeant Kelvin Stacey, 29, of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, is accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm with an alternative count of common assault.

Major Michael Peebles, 35, and Warrant Officer Mark Davies, 37, both of the Intelligence Corps, each face a charge of negligently performing a duty.

Colonel Jorge Mendonca, 42, formerly the commander of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment - as it was known before its merger to become the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment - is also accused of negligently performing a duty.