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| UK soldier jailed over Iraq abuse | UK soldier jailed over Iraq abuse |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| A UK soldier who became Britain's first convicted war criminal has been jailed for a year and dismissed from the army. | A UK soldier who became Britain's first convicted war criminal has been jailed for a year and dismissed from the army. |
| Cpl Donald Payne, 36, had pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating civilian detainees in Basra in 2003. | Cpl Donald Payne, 36, had pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating civilian detainees in Basra in 2003. |
| Six other soldiers were cleared of the alleged abuse of the detainees, who included Baha Mousa, 26. | |
| It was the first time British servicemen had been prosecuted for war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. | It was the first time British servicemen had been prosecuted for war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. |
| Cpl Payne's admission resulted in him being Britain's first convicted war criminal. | |
| He was cleared by a court martial of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice. | |
| His sentence, announced at a military court in Bulford in Wiltshire, will also result in the loss of approximately £300,000 in future earnings and pension. | |
| Interrogation | |
| During his court martial, the prosecution heard that Cpl Payne had "enjoyed" hearing Iraqis call out in pain as they were kicked and punched while in a detention centre and that he referred to the noises made as "the choir". | |
| Despite this, hotel owner Ahmad Taha Musa Al-Matairi - one of the men allegedly abused - urged the court martial to have mercy on Cpl Payne. | |
| Along with six other men, Cpl Payne was accused of charges relating to the abuse of the group of Iraqi men arrested at a hotel where weapons and suspected bomb-making equipment were found in 2003. | |
| The prosecution said that, said that while undergoing so-called conditioning for interrogation, the group were forced to stand in a painful posture. | |
| If they failed to maintain the position - with arms outstretched and knees bent - they were beaten, the court was told. | |
| One of the detainees, Baha Mousa, 26, later died in custody. It was found he had 93 separate injuries to his body. | |
| Cpl Payne's commanding officer Col Jorge Mendonca MBE was among the six other soldiers cleared. | |
| The 43-year-old former commander of the QLR - and the highest-ranking British serviceman in recent history to face a court martial - was cleared on 14 February of negligently performing a duty. |