Death of Baha Mousa Baha Mousa was an Iraqi man who died while in British Army custody in Basra , Iraq in September 2003 . The inquiry into his death found that Mousa ' s death was caused by " factors including lack of food and water , heat , exhaustion , fear , previous injuries and the hooding and stress positions used by British troops - and a final struggle with his guards " . The inquiry heard that Mousa was hooded for almost 24 hours during his 36 hours of custody by the 1st Battalion of the Queen ' s Lancashire Regiment and that he suffered at least 93 injuries prior to his death . The report later details that Mousa was subject to several practices banned under both domestic law and the Geneva Conventions . Seven British soldiers were charged in connection with the case . Six were found not guilt , Cpl Donald Payne , pleaded guilty to inhumane treatment of a prisoner , was jailed for a year and dismissed from the Army . A final 1 , 400 - page report said a " large number " of soldiers assaulted Mousa and that many others including officers must have known about the abuse . The report called his death an " appalling episode of serious gratuitous violence " . The inquiry condemned the Ministry of Defence for " corporate failure " and the regiment for a " lack of moral courage to report abuse " . Death . On 14 September 2003 , Mousa , a 26 - year - old hotel receptionist , was arrested along with six other men and taken to a British base . While in detention , Mousa and the other captives were hooded , severely beaten and assaulted by a number of British troops . Two days later Mousa was found dead . A post - mortem examination found that Mousa suffered multiple injuries ( at least 93 ) , including fractured ribs and a broken nose , which were " in part " the cause of his death . Investigation . Seven members of the Queen ' s Lancashire Regiment were tried on charges relating to the ill treatment of detainees , including those of war crime s under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 . On 19 September 2006 , Corporal Donald Payne pleaded guilty to a charge of inhumane treatment to persons , making him the first member of the British armed forces to plead guilty to a war crime . He was subsequently jailed for one year and expelled from the army . The BBC reported that the six other soldiers were cleared of any wrongdoing , and the " Independent " reported that the charges had been dropped , and that the presiding judge , Justice Ronald McKinnon , stated that " none of those soldiers has been charged with any offence , simply because there is no evidence against them as a result of a more or less obvious closing of ranks . " Breach of human rights . On 27 March 2008 , British Defence Secretary Des Browne admitted to " substantial breaches " of the European Convention of Human Rights over the death of Baha Mousa . In July 2008 the Ministry of Defence agreed to pay £2 . 83 million in compensation to the family of Baha Mousa and nine other men , following an admission of " substantive breaches " of articles 2 and 3 ( right to life and prohibition of torture ) of the European Convention on Human Rights by the British Army . Public inquiry . A public inquiry , chaired by the retired Lord Justice of Appeal Sir William Gage , reported on 8 September 2011 after three years of investigation . The report concluded British soldiers had subjected detainees to " serious , gratuitous violence " . Army training manuals failed to explain that the five interrogation techniques used had been banned by the British since 1972 , and were also illegal under the Geneva Convention . The inquiry again cleared Mendonca of knowledge of the attacks , but found that as commanding officer he should have known of them . Although the Queen ' s Lancashire Regiment were cleared of an " entrenched culture of violence " , the inquiry found the violence used in the Baha Mousa case was not a lone example , and identified 19 soldiers directly involved in the abuses , including those already unsuccessfully tried at previous Courts Martial . Lawyers for families of the victims suggested there was sufficient evidence for fresh prosecutions in the civilian courts . Other enquiries . In December 2012 Derek Keilloh , a former Medical Officer with the Queen ' s Lancashire Regiment who had treated Baha Mousa , was struck off the Medical Register by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service for dishonest conduct in subsequent enquiries into Baha Mousa ' s death . Further reading . In October 2012 A . T . Williams , professor of law at Warwick University and an adviser to the families ' lawyers , published " A Very British Killing : The Death of Baha Mousa " , an account of the events and the subsequent inquiry .