Partner Abuse 'Normal', Say Vulnerable Teens

Teenagers from vulnerable backgrounds are experiencing high levels of abuse in their personal relationships, research by the NSPCC charity suggests.









More than half the girls reported physical violence in at least one of their relationships.

Interviews with 44 boys and 38 girls aged 13 to 18 - who were not in mainstream school - found physical, emotional and sexual abuse was common.

More than half the girls said they had been in a sexually violent relationship before they were 18.

A quarter of boys said they had dated physically aggressive partners.

More than half of the girls reported that they had been a victim of physical violence in at least one of their intimate relationships.

Two-thirds of the girls interviewed and a third of the boys reported experiencing emotional violence, most commonly controlling behaviour.

The report, called Standing On My Own Two Feet, contacted the 82 young people through a range of agencies and organisations working with disadvantaged young people across the south-west of England.

Some of the teenagers interviewed had been permanently excluded from school, were young offenders or teenage mothers.

Forced to have sex

Emma, who was interviewed for the study, told researchers how she had been forced into having sex "quite a few times" when she was 13.

"I've never shouted rape or anything. I've never been able to say that I've been raped but it's not like I've given consent. In certain situations it has been pushed on me and it has been really horrible."

Ellie told researchers: "He [boyfriend] was really persistent... he like held my hands up against the wall, and I was like, 'Seriously get off, I don't like want to'.

"And he was like 'Oh no, come on, it'll be fun, it'll be like a laugh' and stuff. And so he did and I was just like... I don't know, 'cos it really hurt.

"It was horrible, and so I just laid there like crying, like tears running down my face."

Fourteen-year-old Jo said her boyfriend had "only hit me in the face once".

"He used to push me down the stairs and stuff though."

Sasha, who has been in care, said: "I felt I had to do it… like a friend would say to me 'Just do it' and stuff like that.

"Sometimes the boy would say 'Oh just do it' and like go on and on. I'm just like 'OK'."

While half of all those taking part in the research had been assigned a social worker, most did not reveal their partner's violence. Many said welfare professionals were not interested in this aspect of their lives.

"Control and violence seem to be so prevalent in these relationships that girls are unable to recognise its impact"
Christine Barter Report author, Bristol University

The study follows on from a survey in 2009 - also by Bristol University on behalf of the NSPCC - of 1,400 girls aged 13 to 17, who were not considered to be from vulnerable backgrounds.

It found a third suffered sexual abuse in a relationship and a quarter experienced violence at the hands of their boyfriends.

'Child welfare issue'

Christine Barter, from Bristol University, who led this latest research for the NSPCC, said: "Tragically, control and violence seem to be so prevalent in these relationships that girls are unable to recognise its impact - it is an everyday happening.

"Many girls found it very difficult to see that their partner's behaviour is abusive. The government and those working with young people need to recognise that teenage partner violence is an even more profound child welfare issue for disadvantaged young people.

"This will help professionals assess the possibility of partner violence and challenge young people's beliefs that this abuse is a normal part of teenage relationships."

Andrew Flanagan, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "It's appalling that violence in these relationships seems to be just part of daily life.

"These findings underline how important it is for children to be educated about abusive behaviour and for them to feel able to seek help to prevent it happening."

Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone said: "We need to challenge the attitudes and behaviours that foster an acceptance of abusive relationships by intervening as early as possible.

"Bringing the issue out in the open will help teenagers feel confident to challenge abusive behaviour when they experience it or see it."

Call For Justice After Iraq Abuse Inquiry

The crown prosecution service is under pressure to bring civil prosecutions against soldiers involved in the abuse of an innocent Iraqi civilian who died in British army custody, after an inquiry found his death was caused by “an appalling episode of serious gratuitous violence”.











Daoud Mousa, father of Baha Mousa, shows photographs of his son and family.

Fourteen soldiers mentioned in the report are still serving, but some were suspended from duty on Thursday. MoD officials expect more suspensions in the coming days.

Baha Mousa, a hotel worker, died in Basra in September 2003 after soldiers repeatedly deprived him of sleep, placed a hood over his head and subjected him to banned “stress positions”.

Sir William Gage, the chairman of the inquiry, called the behaviour “wholly unacceptable in any circumstances”.

Mr Mousa sustained 93 injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken nose over 36 hours of systematic abuse between September 14 and 15, 2003.

Sir William said: “The events described in the report represent a very serious and regrettable incident. Such an incident should not have happened and should never happen again.’’

The directors of both public and service prosecutions are now considering whether the soldiers involved should face trial. Lawyers and campaigners insist they should be tried in public courts.

Sapna Malik, from law firm Leigh Day, said: “In light of the cogent and serious findings by Sir William Gage, we now expect that the military and civilian prosecuting authorities of this country will act to ensure that justice is done.”

Phil Shiner, from Public Interest Lawyers, added that it was an “absolute imperative” that prosecutions were brought in a civilian court.

Liam Fox, the defence secretary, said: “There is no place in our Armed Forces for the mistreatment of detainees and there is no place for a perverted sense of loyalty that turns a blind eye to wrongdoing or erects a wall of silence to cover it up.”

He added that the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (or IHAT), which started work in November 2010, was considering this and other reported cases of abuse.

“It is too early to comment on what the conclusions of the IHAT investigations might be, but cases will be referred to the director of service prosecutions, if and when there is sufficient evidence to justify this,” Mr Fox said.

Sir William issued a total of 73 recommendations to improve the way detainees are handled.

These included asking detainees “on entry and exit from a theatre-level detention facility” if they had any complaints about their treatment, and suggesting Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons visit battlefield holding centres.

The former Court of Appeal judge condemned the actions of Corporal Donald Payne, who pleaded guilty in September 2006 to inhumane treatment of prisoners, as well as senior officers, including the commanding officer Colonel Jorge Mendonca, Lieutenant Craig Rodgers and Major Michael Peebles.

He said Cpl Payne was a “violent bully” who inflicted a “dreadful catalogue of unjustified and brutal violence” on Mr Mousa and other detainees and encouraged junior soldiers to do the same.

Seven soldiers faced allegations relating to the mistreatment of the detainees at a court martial in 2006-07, but only one was found guilty.

Baha Mousa Inquiry: MoD's Guilt For Death Of Army's Iraqi Prisoner

Nineteen soldiers could face criminal charges for their role in the death of an innocent Iraqi man after a public inquiry found he was the victim of “appalling and cowardly” violence while in British custody.












Baha Mousa with his son.

Military and civilian prosecuting authorities are examining the findings of a three-year inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa, a hotel receptionist who died after a 36-hour ordeal at the hands of British soldiers in Basra in September 2003. Nine other civilians were bound, hooded and subjected to “serious, gratuitous violence”.

The inquiry, chaired by Sir William Gage, a retired judge, found the Ministry of Defence guilty of a “corporate failure” to uphold basic standards by allowing rules to go “largely forgotten”. While clearing the soldiers’ unit, the 1st Bn Queen’s Lancashire Regiment, of having an “entrenched culture of violence”, he said it was clear the abuses were not a one-off.

Dr Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, said the events described in the report were “deplorable, shocking and shameful” and instructed the head of the Army to take action against any serving personnel who were involved.

Three serving soldiers, including an officer, have already been suspended from duty as a result of the inquiry.

Dr Fox told the Commons: “Baha Mousa was not a casualty of war. His death occurred as a detainee in British custody – it was avoidable and preventable and there can be no excuses. There is no place in our Armed Forces for the mistreatment of detainees and there is no place for a perverted sense of loyalty that turns a blind eye to wrongdoing or erects a wall of silence to cover it up.”

The 1,400-page report details how the victims spent a day and a half with bags tied around their heads while being forced to stand in “stress positions” – practices banned under both domestic law and the Geneva Conventions.

Last night the Chief of the General Staff, Sir Peter Wall, said the incident “cast a dark shadow” over the reputation of the Army while David Cameron condemned the “truly shocking and appalling” abuse which he said should never be repeated.

The £13 million inquiry singled out 19 soldiers whom it concluded were directly involved in the abuse, including some who have already faced unsuccessful prosecution at court martial.

Lawyers for families of the victims said there was potentially the evidence to bring new prosecutions against all of them in the civilian courts. It emerged last night that three soldiers serving in the Army, including an officer, had been suspended from duties and MoD sources believed another 11 former servicemen could also face charges.

The suspended officer, Maj Mike Peebles of the Intelligence Corps, would face a second court martial if Army prosecutors believed there was sufficient new evidence. He was originally acquitted of negligently performing a duty during a court martial in 2007 when he was among six soldiers to walk free after the effective collapse of a £20 million case.

Only Cpl Donald Payne, named as committing some of the worst abuses, was convicted at the original court martial after pleading guilty to inhumane treatment. He was cleared of manslaughter but jailed for a year. Six others, including the regiment’s former commanding officer, Col Jorge Mendonça, were cleared of charges.

Yesterday both he and Maj Peebles were singled out as bearing “heavy responsibility” for what happened. Several soldiers who were not involved in the original court martial are among those who could now face prosecution.

This could include a large number of men who have left the Forces.

Dr Fox said efforts were already under way to determine whether “more can be done to bring those responsible to justice”. He told MPs that the MoD’s Iraq Historic Allegations Team had found evidence of “some concern” and cases would be passed to the Director of Service Prosecutions where there was “sufficient” evidence. Any eventual cases would be likely to be brought by the Crown Prosecution Service as most of the men were now civilians. Sapna Malik, a lawyer representing the Iraqi families, said they “expect” both military and civilian prosecuting authorities to act.

Despite the criticism, Dr Fox rejected a key recommendation in the report for a blanket ban on so-called “harsh” questioning methods, warning that lives could be put at risk unless the Forces could deploy all “necessary” techniques.

Army Suspends Baha Mousa Soldiers As More Prosecutions Are Considered

General Sir Peter Wall, the head of the army, says new evidence could mean further disciplinary action against soldiers.












General Sir Peter Wall says further prosecutions against soldiers are being considered after fresh evidence was unearthed.

The army has suspended a number of soldiers after the publication of a damning report into the "violent and cowardly abuse" by servicemen that led to the death of an Iraqi detainee in British military custody.

There have been widespread calls for further prosecutions and the defence secretary, Liam Fox, disclosed that Ministry of Defence inquiries "are revealing evidence of some concern" in other Iraqi abuse cases.

Fox acknowledged for the first time that there could be more prosecutions. "If any serviceman or woman, no matter the colour of uniform they wear, is found to have betrayed the values this country stands for and the standards we hold dear, they will be held to account," he said.

General Sir Peter Wall, head of the army, confirmed that the force's provost martial will investigate whether anyone else should be disciplined in the light of fresh evidence unearthed by Sir William Gage's inquiry into the final hours of Baha Mousa's life in Basra in 2003.

Wall said the inquiry had cast a "dark shadow" over the service's reputation.

The retired appeal court judge's report, which runs to three volumes, found that troops from 1st Battalion Queen's Lancashire Regiment inflicted "gratuitous" violence on a group of 10 Iraqi civilians, who were kicked and hit in turn, "causing them to emit groans and other noises and thereby playing them like musical instruments". This humiliating practice was nicknamed "the choir".

While focusing criticism on a few members of the regiment – particularly Corporal Donald Payne, Lieutenant Craig Rodgers and Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Mendonca – the report also passes scathing comment on the role of the unit's regimental medical officer, Dr Derek Keilloh, and its padre, Father Peter Madden.

Both Keilloh and Madden face further hearings: the doctor will be examined by a General Medical Council disciplinary tribunal over his role in Iraq and the priest is to be interviewed by the archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley.

The report will be passed to prosecutors to assess whether fresh charges should be brought against any soldiers. So far only Payne has been convicted of inhumanely treating civilians; he served one year in prison.

Fox said: "There is no place in our armed forces for the mistreatment of detainees and there is no place for a perverted sense of loyalty that turns a blind eye to wrongdoing or erects a wall of silence to cover it up."

Referring to methods of "conditioning" suspects in Northern Ireland that were banned in 1972, Fox admitted that "there was a 'systemic failure' that allowed knowledge of the prohibition on abusive techniques made by the Heath government to be lost over the years".

Military prosecutors from the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) will be responsible for examining any cases brought against those still in uniform. Despite suggestions that the Crown Prosecution Service will be asked to examine the fresh evidence in relation to those who have already left the army, a CPS spokeswoman said: "We are not aware of anything being referred to us."

Dan Leader, a solicitor with Leigh Day and Co, which represented some of the detainees, said: "The claimants are very clear they want accountability. We are talking about torture and murder. All that has happened is that someone has spent one year in prison. The claimants are concerned about criminal justice and feel let down so far."

In terms of immediate disciplinary action, Wall told the Guardian that "some soldiers have been suspended from operational duty and military service". More suspensions may follow. Only 14 of those referred to in the Gage report are still in the army.

So far £2.8m has been paid out by the Ministry of Defence in compensation to Mousa's relatives and the nine other Iraqi detainees held in Basra between 14 and 16 September 2003.

The solicitor Phil Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers, renewed his call for a wider inquiry into allegations about how British troops treated detainees in southern Iraq between 2003 and 2009.

"There is a case called Ali Zaki Mousa," Shiner said, "currently before the court of appeal that will determine whether the UK should fulfil its legal obligations by holding an extended inquiry into 150 additional complaints by Iraqi civilians."

Mousa's father, Daoud Mousa, was not in Britain for the report's publication but is due to deliver a lecture in memory of his son in London next week.

The MoD signalled that it would not accept one of Gage's recommendations, namely that "harshing" – shouting at detainees to intimidate them – should be abandoned. A test case about the technique, which the MoD defends, is due to come before the courts soon.

The General Medical Council declined to comment on the forthcoming hearing into Keilloh but Peter Jennings, press secretary for the archdiocese of Birmingham, said of the criticism of Madden: "The Catholic church takes this matter extremely seriously.

"The archbishop, the Most Rev Bernard Longley, and the vicar-general of the archdiocese will be meeting with Fr Madden when he has had the opportunity to study carefully the full report and the criticisms of himself in the context of the report."

Amnesty International called for soldiers to be charged.

"Those responsible must be held accountable for their actions and brought swiftly to justice, including in criminal proceedings," said Nicola Duckworth, the organisation's Europe and central Asia director.

British Army Faces Further Inquiries Into Alleged Abuse Of Iraqi Prisoners

Other torture allegations remain to be heard after army cleared of systemic abuse in Baha Mousa case.












The British army faces further inquiries into its treatment of prisoners in Iraq. Above, Al-Ma'aqal prison in Basra, 2004.

The Baha Mousa report is not the only one to look into the question of the "systemic" abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

A second inquiry is to open later this year, examining disputed allegations that up to 20 men were tortured and murdered in British custody after a gun battle in southern Iraq in 2004.

That inquiry became inevitable after the high court severely criticised the Royal Military Police's investigation into the affair and said that courts should be wary of evidence given by the RMP's second in command.

The court of appeal is currently considering whether to order a third inquiry, into the military's entire detention and interrogation policy, after hearing arguments on behalf of more than 150 men who allege they were systematically tortured by the British army in south-east Iraq between 2003 and 2008.

The complaints include 59 allegations of detainees being hooded, 11 of electric shocks, 122 of sound deprivation through the use of ear muffs, 52 of sleep deprivation, 131 of sight deprivation using blackened goggles, 39 of enforced nakedness and 18 of being kept awake by pornographic DVDs played on laptops.

The Ministry of Defence's lawyers have conceded that the individual allegations "raise an arguable case of breach of Article 3" of the European convention on human rights, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. But, in its attempts to persuade the courts that a third inquiry is not needed, the MoD has set up a team of 80 investigators, half of them former civilian detectives, to examine the allegations.

The Iraq historic allegations team (Ihat) is now scouring MoD records, including hundreds of video recordings of military interrogations, and interviewing the complainants.

Many of the complaints centre on a secretive Intelligence Corps facility known as the joint forces interrogation team, or JFIT. Already, three men who served at the JFIT have been referred to the director of service prosecutions, who has been asked to consider war crimes charges under the 2001 International Criminal Court Act.

Nine other deaths in British military custody are also being re-examined.

Baby P Killer Owen Goes Free From Jail

BABY P killer Jason Owen has walked free from jail today.

The monster - one of three caged brutes over the youngster's appalling death - left in Wandsworth Prison in south west London this afternoon. The monster — one of three brutes caged over the youngster's appalling death — left Wandsworth Prison in south west London this afternoon.

Do you know where Jason is Owen? Do you know where Jason Owen is? If so, call the newsdesk on 0207 782 4104th If so, call the newsdesk on 0207 782 4104.

His release comes just two days after the fourth anniversary of tortured 17-year-old Peter Connelly's shocking end. His release comes just two days after the fourth anniversary of tortured 17-month-old Peter Connelly's shocking end.

Last night the toddler's gran condemned the decision to allow him to go free. Last night the toddler's gran condemned the decision to allow him to go free.

Mary O'Connor, 60, said: "The fact he is being freed so close to the anniversary is a cruel twist of fate To children think he wants to be walking the streets again is horrifying He is a danger to society and especially... Mary O'Connor, 60, said: "The fact he is being freed so close to the anniversary is a cruel twist of fate. To think he will be walking the streets again is horrifying. He is a danger to society and especially children.

Torture ... Baby P
Torture ... Torture ... Baby P Baby P

"He is a nasty piece of work and if he had a compassionate bone in his body, he could have saved Peter." "He is a nasty piece of work and if he had a compassionate bone in his body, he could have saved Peter."

Owen, 39, has served just over two years. Owen, 39, has served just over two years. He was convicted of causing death or Allowing Peter's along with the toddler's mum Tracey and her boyfriend Steven Barker, who are quietly behind bars. He was convicted of causing or allowing Peter's death along with the toddler's mum Tracey and her boyfriend Steven Barker, who are still behind bars.

Mary, of North London, said: "I hope the guilt is tearing apart Owen because he has not been properly punished I'd like to think he wants to spend the rest of his life haunted by Peter's death But I doubt it... " Mary, of North London, said: "I hope the guilt is tearing Owen apart because he hasn't been properly punished. I'd like to think he will spend the rest of his life haunted by Peter's death. But I doubt it."

Mary then blasted a court ruling that will allow bungler Sharon Shoesmith - head of children's services in Haringey, North London, when Peter died - to claim £ 2.5million over her sacking. Mary also blasted a court ruling that will allow bungler Sharon Shoesmith - head of children's services in Haringey, North London, when Peter died - to claim £2.5million over.