The military policemen – nicknamed Red Caps – were ambushed by a group of around 400 people who had stormed a police station in the town of Majar al-Kabir in 2003
A man is about to go on trial for being part of a mob which killed six British Red Cap soldiers in Iraq more than 20 years ago.
The military policemen – nicknamed Red Caps – were ambushed by a group of about 400 people who stormed a police station in the town of Majar al-Kabir in 2003.
The victims included Lance Cpl Ben Hyde, 23, of Northallerton, North Yorkshire; Cpl Russell Aston, 30, of Swadlincote, Derbyshire; Sgt Simon Hamilton-Jewell, 41, of Chessington, Surrey; and Lance Cpl Tom Keys, 20, of Bala, North Wales. Cpl Paul Long, 24, of Hebburn, South Tyneside, also lost his life alongside Cpl Simon Miller, 21, of nearby Washington, Tyne and Wear.
The families say the deaths were avoidable; they were refused a second inquest by the European Court of Human Rights in 2019. The men did not have enough ammo – they had just 50 rounds each – with no Sat phone to call for help.
Alaa Jabbar Khodhair was found guilty of murder in his absence by an Iraqi court last year. In March, he is understood to have handed himself in and challenged the verdict, with a retrial due on May 3.
The campaign for justice has been fought by Cpl Miller’s family and the other victims’ loved ones for decades. Simon’s dad John fears the retrial will be a “complete farce” given the failure of previous prosecutions.
John told the Mirror that the men responsible for the attack were known to the authorities and the army. He was given a note with the names of the killers within months of the tragedy. It was slipped through his letter box at his home in Washington Tyne and Wear in a black envelope from an anonymous source.
He said: “I have hounded the MoD to find out what was going on with this investigation. I went to the MoD last June and said they were chasing the Iraqi authorities.
“They never gave any tangible evidence of that. I received a letter last August saying that a man had been trialled in his absence for being part of the mob and found guilty of murder.
“There were six names which dropped in an envelope through my door not long after the incident. Someone had a conscience and wanted to let me know who was responsible.
“That was around 2004, and it gave me the names of the people involved. But the MoD kept telling me that in Iraq, people use multiple names and so they always have to be checked. The man found guilty in his absence has now handed himself in to demand a retrial. So that is what is happening now.”
He added: “My son was murdered in the most heinous manner imaginable. With respect to the upcoming court case, we have seen similar proceedings before.
“I fear the worst and have no trust in the courts to deliver justice. I believe the trial will be a farce where witnesses will appear and claim they didn’t see him there, it wasn’t him.”
Ex-soldier John, 74, and his wife Marilyn, 66, were furious at the remarks made by Donald Trump last year about the British military ‘staying back from the frontline’ in Afghanistan.
John, who served in the Gulf and Germany with the army, said Trump’s words were like ‘being struck with a knife that twisted again’. The President issued a statement praising UK forces after his claim that they had ‘stayed a little back from the frontline’ in Afghanistan. He wrote: “The great and very brave soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America. In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors.”
But John said the fact there was ‘no apology’ was a further insult to him and the families of the 636 UK service personnel who died in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Simon’s elder brother, Jon, 46, still serves with the military police after more than two decades of service. John added: “We are very lucky that Jon came back.”
In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said it wanted to see justice for the deaths of the six Red Cap soldiers. “The trial is under the jurisdiction of the Iraqi court and while we have local legal representation and have offered support and updates to the families, we do not have an active role in the process. Family members are entitled to representation at the trial as the next of kin of the victims. “
