Former police detective Mark Warwick, who is now leading the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat) set up by the ministry of defence, told the newspaper “Independent” he believed his team had gathered enough evidence to justify charges. “There are serious allegations that we are investigating across the whole range of probe investigations, which incorporates homicide, where I feel there is significant evidence to be obtained to put a strong case before the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) to prosecute and charge,” he said.
The SPA considers criminal cases within the armed services. “There are lots of significant cases that we are investigating and at the appropriate time it will be a matter for us to discuss with the SPA whether they meet the war crimes threshold,” he added.
The ministry of defence said it was taking the claims “extremely seriously”, but added that “the vast majority of UK service personnel deployed on military operations conduct themselves professionally and in accordance with the law.” The inquiry has heard evidence of at least 1,514 possible victims, 280 of whom are alleged to have been unlawfully killed.