UK Edition
Former Army captain arrested in dawn raid over comments made a decade ago
A FORMER Army captain was arrested in a dawn raid over comments made about an ex-partner a decade ago, The Telegraph can disclose.
Rachel Webster was dragged from her home and driven 80 miles to a military base where she was held for 14 hours and questioned.
Miss Webster, 48, who left the military in 2013, is one of just seven military personnel arrested in six years as part of the £57 million inquiry into alleged historic abuses in Iraq.
Only three of those – including Miss Webster – were held without any prior notice. Last night the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat) admitted the arrest had been “unnecessary” and said the case against Miss Webster had been closed with no action taken.
But The Telegraph can reveal it still took Ihat two-and-a-half years from the time of the arrest to closing down the inquiry into Miss Webster only last month. Miss Webster’s wrongful arrest in January 2014 was carried out three months after she had refused to give a statement against her ex-boyfriend.
Johnny Mercer, a Conservative MP conducting a parliamentary inquiry into the treatment of troops under Ihat investigation, said: “It is clear in what has happened to Rachel was illegal, unacceptable and a shameful dereliction by those in charge. It is an abuse of power. This case symbolises the abuse of power and the madness of Ihat.”
The Telegraph previously reported how Miss Webster was awarded £5,000 in damages over the arrest – but until now the reason for the raid had not been disclosed. The comments were made by Miss Webster in 2006 while she was serving with the Army in Afghanistan. She had previously served in Iraq in 2003.
The claims made about her former partner’s professional conduct in Iraq, which we cannot report for legal reasons, were dealt with at the time by her commanding officer in Afghanistan. Friends of Miss Webster are now accusing Ihat of trawling through her military record to put pressure on her over her former partner’s activities.
Ihat is currently investigating almost 1,500 cases of alleged mistreatment and unlawful killing of Iraqis. Miss Webster’s case appears unique in that she was investigated for comments made about another officer 10 years ago and dealt with at the time.
Three months after she refused to give a statement about another officer, Ihat investigators arrived at her home in the early hours of Jan 10, 2014, and arrested her on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. She was driven to Portsmouth for questioning.
A friend of Miss Webster said that she was “shocked” and humiliated” by the way the Ihat officers behaved. It is understood she alleged her breasts were briefly exposed when there was a tussle with officers who restrained her and wanted to remove her from her home.
She claimed she was later denied access to the lavatory when she became unwell. She felt her treatment was “tantamount to being kidnapped by the state”. The decision to shut her case was finally taken at the end of last month. An Ihat spokesman said: “Every effort was made to ensure that the arrest was carried out sensitively and we regret any distress that has been caused.”