Iraq Torture Case Lawyers 'Had No Agenda Against Army'

A law firm had "no agenda" and made no money from war crimes claims made against Iraq War veterans which were later found to be "lies", a tribunal has heard.

Lawyers representing Leigh Day and three solicitors told the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) in central London they denied bringing improper claims against British soldiers.

Leigh Day pursued damages claims against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) over the alleged mistreatment and unlawful killing of captives at Camp Abu Naji following the Battle of Danny Boy in May 2004.

Among them was a claim by Khuder Al-Sweady that his nephew, Hamid Al-Sweady, after whom a £31 million public inquiry was named, had been murdered and tortured by the British Army.

The long-running Al-Sweady Inquiry would later dismiss the claims as "entirely false", and find that Hamid had been an armed insurgent who died in battle.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) alleged that the firm ignored key evidence which "undermined" the claims and also made prohibited case referral fees to an intermediary named Mazin Younis.

The law firm and solicitors Martyn Day and Sapna Malik face 19 misconduct charges, while fellow solicitor Anna Crowther faces one allegation of destroying a key document.

All deny any wrongdoing.