Keir Starmer led witch hunt against UK troops for free | UK | News

Sir Keir Starmer led a legal case that paved the way for hundreds of British soldiers to be prosecuted for alleged war crimes.

The current Prime Minister, working with close ally Lord Hermer, now Attorney-General, and now disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner, donated his services pro bono on a human rights claim in 2007 that changed the legal framework covering troops in war zones.

Emerging court documents show Sir Keir served as lead counsel on the claim, which eventually forced the Ministry of Defense to launch new investigations into the deaths in Iraq. The decision launched years of criminal investigations targeting falsely accused soldiers, costing taxpayers large sums of money.

Former Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer accused Sir Keir of “launching a witch hunt against British troops”.

Prime Minister calls on courts to reopen investigation into acquitted soldiers

As part of the 2007 claim, Sir Keir and Lord Hermer pressured the courts to order a new inquest into a British soldier who was exonerated on two separate occasions over the death of an Iraqi man in 2003, telling judges previous investigations were “sloppy” and “wholly inadequate”.

Troop Sergeant Richie Catterall faced false allegations for 13 years until an independent judge ruled he was lawfully defending himself. It emerged that Sir Keir’s allegations were partly based on a “forged document” aimed at placing blame on British troops.

Years of investigations left Sgt Catterall contemplating suicide and left him struggling with serious mental health issues.

“I am heartbroken that Keir Starmer helped bring this case against me,” Sergeant Catterall told The Telegraph. “He is now Prime Minister and he owes me an apology.”

“You only have to be investigated once. I was investigated three times. I wasn’t well when I came back from Iraq but they kept coming after me. Keir Starmer must share some of that responsibility.”

Shiner, the attorney for the firm that filed the lawsuit and produced the allegations, was later fired and convicted of fraud. He made false claims and paid intermediaries to obtain evidence in Iraq.

Revelations emerge as government faces backlash from veterans

Details of Sir Keir’s personal involvement have surfaced as his Government battles intense criticism from veterans following its decision to revive the possibility of a Northern Ireland-related inquiry.

Prime Minister exploded last week Donald TrumpHe described claims that British soldiers were staying away from the front lines in Afghanistan as “insulting and appalling”.

Downing Street stressed on Tuesday night that Sir Keir did not represent the Iraqi families in the 2007 case, but said his role in the case was “to assist the court on legal matters, not to defend either side”.

The spokesman added: “As the Prime Minister made clear last week, he will never forget the courage, bravery and sacrifice that British servicemen and women have shown for their country.”

But Mr Mercer claimed Sir Keir harbored an ideological hostility towards the soldiers.

Writing in The Telegraph, he said: “It is clear that Keir Starmer was personally involved in launching the witch hunt against the British troops that I have spent the last 10 years destroying. He is so convinced that British soldiers should be prosecuted that he insisted on doing it for free.”

Starmer made a charitable contribution to human rights groups

Sir Keir donated his legal services on the case, working for a number of human rights defenders, including Amnesty International, Liberty, British Irish Rights Watch and the Kurdish Human Rights Project, who joined the case supporting Shiner’s claim. Intervenors are parties who have an interest in the outcome of a legal claim but are not directly involved in it.

The case, known as Al-Skeini and others v Secretary of State for Defence, was brought in 2007 to represent the families of six Iraqis who claimed their relatives were unlawfully killed by British troops following the 2003 invasion of the country.

Sir Keir, the leading human rights quality control officer at the time, collaborated with Shiner and Lord Hermer. The intervention of human rights groups was aimed at establishing that the European Convention on Human Rights applied to British forces operating in Iraq.

One of the six deaths was Muhammad Salim, an AK-47-wielding teacher who died during the British operation in Basra.

Sergeant Catterall pulled the trigger that killed him. Military authorities initially found no wrongdoing in 2003.

Starmer told courts previous investigations were inadequate

But in submissions personally submitted by Sir Keir and Lord Hermer, the courts were told that no “effective investigation” had been carried out and that previous investigations “lacked independence” and were “wholly inadequate”.

Sir Keir argued that British troops exercised effective control over parts of Iraq and that the UK was therefore legally obliged to carry out new investigations under European human rights law.

The Law Lords rejected these claims in 2007, finding that the contract was not valid, but the claim was later referred to Strasbourg.

The European Court of Human Rights overturned the UK’s decision in 2011, forcing the UK to restart investigations into the deaths.

The decision sparked a wave of criminal investigations targeting British soldiers, many of whom had already been cleared. Hundreds of people endured years of scrutiny, often based on accusations later proven to be false.

Sir Keir stopped being involved in Iraq cases after becoming director of public prosecutions in 2008.

Government accused of anti-veteran agenda

He has faced accusations that he has pursued an anti-veteran agenda since entering government. Labor won a vote in the House of Commons last week to remove Tory-installed immunity for Troubles veterans.

Sir Keir nevertheless seized the chance to present himself as a champion of British soldiers, days after Donald Trump suggested NATO troops were “a little behind” from the front lines in Afghanistan.

He branded his remarks “insulting and frankly appalling”, given that 457 British soldiers had died, and his team told the BBC: “Sir Keir sees defending and defending the Armed Forces as primary duty to his role, as both those who served and those killed in action cannot openly speak for themselves.”

Suspicious soldier was finally acquitted after 13 years

Following the Strasbourg decision, Sergeant Catterall was subject to two further investigations. A criminal investigation cleared him again in 2014, and he was finally cleared in 2016 following an investigation led by Sir George Newman, a former Supreme Court judge.

Sergeant Catterall had lived under a cloud of suspicion for 13 years at this point.

The investigation determined that Sergeant Catterall was justified in defending himself and that there were “sufficient circumstances” for him to believe his life was in danger.

Sir George stated that he had “little or no confidence” in the reliability of the evidence given by the dead man’s family and found that a “false document” had been created to place blame on British forces.

Sergeant Catterall, a 56-year-old grandfather now living in Wales, attempted suicide several times and was sectioned three times due to the stress caused by the investigations.

Daughter Demi Catterall questioned why Sir Keir had chosen to work unpaid for his involvement in the case.

“He had no new evidence,” he said. “He came back to court with the same documents and the same lies. Why was he doing charity?”

Disgraced lawyer sacked and convicted of fraud

Sergeant Catterall’s ordeal was one of thousands of lawsuits filed by Shiner and his law firm, Public Interest Lawyers.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority later fined Shiner for dishonesty; These included fabricating evidence and making false statements to the courts.

He was convicted of fraud in 2024 for dishonestly submitting legal aid requests and paying intermediaries to obtain clients and evidence in Iraq.

Strasbourg decision activates £60 million investigation unit

The Ministry of Defense faced far-reaching consequences of the Strasbourg decision.

The Iraq Historical Allegations Team (Ihat), a unit established in 2010 to examine and investigate allegations of mistreatment of Iraqi civilians by British forces, has been expanded to investigate the increasing number of allegations, the majority of which come from Shiner’s firm. The number of complaints increased from less than 100 to almost 2,500.

Ihat processed a total of 3,392 complaints, two-thirds of which were related to Shiner. Taxpayers funded the unit to the tune of nearly £60 million before it was closed in 2017, without a single lawsuit being filed.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “As the Prime Minister made clear last week, he will never forget the bravery, bravery and sacrifice shown by British servicemen and women for their country.

“Throughout his career the Prime Minister has represented British soldiers killed and wrongfully accused in action.

“The Prime Minister did not represent the plaintiffs in this case. He represented the interveners, including the Law Society of England and Wales.

“The role of the intervener is to assist the court in legal matters, not to defend either side.

“The Prime Minister did not intervene in the subsequent case heard at the European Court of Human Rights.”