“It’s clear Keir Starmer was personally involved in unleashing the witch hunt against British troops.”
Keir Starmer is facing renewed fury from former soldiers after court papers revealed he personally led a legal challenge that paved the way for hundreds of British troops to be investigated for alleged war crimes, many of them later shown to be innocent.
Documents uncovered by The Telegraph show the Prime Minister acted without charge in a landmark 2007 human rights case that reshaped the law governing British forces operating overseas.
Working alongside him were Richard Hermer, now the Attorney General and one of Starmer’s closest allies, and Phil Shiner, a solicitor who was later struck off and convicted of fraud and dishonesty.
The litigation ultimately forced the Ministry of Defence to reopen inquiries into deaths in Iraq and triggered years of criminal investigations into soldiers who had already been cleared. The prolonged probes, critics say, inflicted devastating personal consequences and cost taxpayers tens of millions of pounds.
Johnny Mercer, the former veterans minister, accused Starmer of “unleashing the witch hunt against British troops,” claiming the Prime Minister showed ideological hostility toward servicemen by championing the case.
Central to the controversy is Sgt Richie Catterall, a paratrooper who had been cleared twice of murder over the fatal shooting of an Iraqi man during a patrol in Basra in 2003. As part of the 2007 proceedings, Starmer and Hermer urged judges to order a fresh inquiry, describing earlier military investigations as “perfunctory” and “wholly inadequate.”
That intervention proved catastrophic for the soldier. Sgt Catterall was subjected to another 13 years of scrutiny before an independent judge ruled he had acted in self defence and that allegations against him were based partly on falsified evidence intended to pin blame on British troops.
Now a 56 year old grandfather living in Wales, he was investigated for killing an Iraqi teacher who was armed with an AK 47. In a filmed interview with The Telegraph he said soldiers operated strictly under orders.
“We serve by the rules of engagement. He said do not shoot, we do not shoot. Shoot, we shoot. Two men with weapons just in front of you. Bang. You shoot them,” he said.
Asked how he felt when he learned Starmer had been involved in reopening his case, Sgt Catterall was blunt.
“I was gutted because he is now the Prime Minister and he is getting troops done. He is literally going for troops that are doing they’re f job.”
Court rulings later concluded that Sgt Catterall had reasonable grounds to fear for his life. The judge said there was “little or no confidence” in the reliability of testimony from the dead man’s family and that a “false document” had been created to shift blame onto British forces.
The strain of the investigations left the former soldier suicidal and suffering serious mental illness. His daughter, Demi Catterall, questioned Starmer’s motives in returning to court without payment.
“He had no new evidence,” she said. “He went back with the same documents and the same lies. Why was he acting pro bono.”
The 2007 case, brought on behalf of Iraqi families, argued that European human rights law applied to British forces operating in Iraq. Although Britain’s highest court initially rejected that position, the ruling was later overturned in Strasbourg in 2011, forcing the UK to reopen investigations into multiple deaths.
That judgment unleashed a wave of criminal inquiries into soldiers, often based on claims later discredited. The Iraq Historic Allegations Team, created to handle the surge, ultimately received more than 3,300 complaints, nearly two thirds linked to Shiner’s firm. It cost about £60 million before being shut down in 2017 without securing a single prosecution.
Shiner was later struck off for dishonesty, including fabricating evidence and paying intermediaries in Iraq to procure clients. In 2024 he was convicted of fraud over false legal aid claims.
Downing Street has sought to distance the Prime Minister from the fallout, stressing that Starmer did not represent the Iraqi families but acted for intervening organisations, including the Law Society, and that his role was to assist the court on legal points rather than advocate for either side. Officials also say he had no involvement in the later Strasbourg case.
A spokesman added that the Prime Minister “will never forget the courage, bravery and sacrifice” of British service personnel and has represented soldiers who were wrongly accused in other matters.
Veterans remain unconvinced. Mercer argues that Starmer’s past actions speak louder than present day assurances.
“It’s clear Keir Starmer was personally involved in unleashing the witch hunt against British troops,” he wrote. “He believes in prosecuting British soldiers so much that he insisted on doing it for free.”
The disclosures come as the Government faces separate anger from veterans over plans to reopen the possibility of prosecutions linked to Northern Ireland, deepening suspicions that, for many former soldiers, the Prime Minister’s sympathies lie anywhere but with those who fought for Britain.
Read the full story in The Telegraph.
