Top soldiers allowed abuse of prisoners to happen, says accused

Emma Gunby, Osnabruck

Corporal Daniel Kenyon, aged 33, one of three soldiers accused of abusing captured looters, told the court his men had been poisoned by the atmosphere at Camp Bread Basket, in Basra.

The father of two from Newcastle upon Tyne said: "My section was squeaky clean and the Bread Basket was one of dirty infection."

He described witnessing a Sergeant Major forcing the Iraqi prisoners to run with boxes on their heads while they were beaten with poles.

Kenyon, who commanded a section of the Milan Platoon, told the court

in Osnabruck, Germany, another senior soldier had told him it was acceptable to give the detainees "a good kicking."

Despite thinking the abuse was wrong, Kenyon said he did not report it to anybody above him out of loyalty to his battalion The 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

It was only when he realised how serious the accusations against him were that he decided to put loyalty aside.

"At the time, I knew that this was serious," he told the court. "I didn't realise how serious it was and that we could come to this level and, so, out of loyalty to the battalion, you don't go grassing up sergeant majors and above."

The charges that Kenyon is accused of include aiding and abetting soldiers, who have never been identified, to force prisoners to simulate sex acts.

He is also charged with failing to report the abuse.

Kenyon, who is the most senior soldier standing trial, told the court martial that he did not report the alleged mistreatment because he thought it was "pointless."

He said: "There was no point in passing anything up the chain of command because it was the chain of command who were, in my eyes, doing wrong."

Kenyon told the court that he decided to discipline his own men if he saw them acting out of line.

When he saw his co-defendant Lance Corporal Mark Cooley, aged 25, driving a forklift truck with a captured Iraqi looter suspended from the prongs, he ordered him to release the man.

Kenyon went on to describe how he discovered a number of his men gathered around two naked Iraqis who were simulating oral sex, in a scene he said was "beyond belief."

He ordered the abuse to stop and gave the men involved a "bollocking."

He denied seeing a further incident where the prisoners were cajoled into simulating anal sex scenes. The father-of-two is giving evidence in his defence at the court martial where he and two of his fellow soldiers are accused of the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Camp Bread Basket, in May 2003.

The court martial was adjourned until tomorrow morning, when Kenyon will continue to give evidence.