Why 'Iraq abuse' colonel was cleared

The case against the most senior soldier to face a court martial in modern times collapsed because prisoner abuses he was accused of failing to prevent were approved by his commanders.

Colonel Jorge Mendonca and four other soldiers were cleared last month of offences against Iraqi civilian prisoners.

The reasons for Mr Justice McKinnon, the civilian High Court judge overseeing the case, to dismiss the charges could not be reported at the time.

But yesterday, as he began summing up the case against two remaining defendants at Bulford, Wiltshire, he said he had cleared the colonel because of evidence from Major Anthony Royce, an Intelligence Corps specialist who oversaw prisoner detention in Basra during 2003.

Royce said Mendonca had asked him about placing hoods over prisoners' heads for long periods and being forced to stand in 'stress positions'. He told the colonel both practices had been explicitly approved by commanders when in fact both practices are forbidden in the British Army.