Boy, 16, Charged Over Kilmarnock Schoolboy Murder

A teenager appeared in court last night charged with killing a schoolboy at the weekend.

The 16-year-old, from Kilmarnock, was charged with murder over the death of 13-year-old Jon Wilson.

The schoolboy, from Gateside Place in Kilmarnock, was found with serious head injuries and was left fighting for his life after the attack in Queen's Drive in Kilmarnock in the early hours of Sunday morning.
















Victim: A 16-year-old, from Kilmarnock, was charged with murder over the death of 13-year-old Jon Wilson, pictured in a sailor's hat.

He died at Crosshouse Hospital yesterday. His family are said to be 'devastated' at his death, a neighbour said.

Hundreds of Facebook messages have also been posted online paying tribute to the schoolboy.

Jon's aunt Irene Wilson paid tribute to her nephew.












Tragedy: Jon Wilson died at Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, pictured, with his devastated family at his side.

She told the Daily Record: 'Jon was a quiet boy who spent most of his time playing with his Xbox. He didn't run in gangs or bring any bother to his door.

'He was a generous boy and he would give you his last.'













Cathy Jamieson, Scottish Labour MP for Kilmarnock, said: 'This is such a tragic waste of a young life'.

She said the family, who were at his bedside when he died, had 'no idea' why he was in the street at that time of night.

The 16-year-old made no plea and no declaration when he appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court and was remanded in custody. No date was fixed for his next appearance.

Gillian Cochrane, a neighbour of the Wilson family, said Jon's death was a 'tragedy'.

'His family are devastated,' she said.

Pupils at Kilmarnock Academy, where Jon was a student, are being offered counselling over the schoolboy's death.

An East Ayrshire Council spokeswoman said: 'Our thoughts are presently with his family and friends, to whom we extend our sincerest condolences.'

Cathy Jamieson, Scottish Labour MP for Kilmarnock, said: 'This is such a tragic waste of a young life.

'My thoughts are with the family of the victim and members of the Kilmarnock community who are as shocked as I am that such a terrible incident could take place on the town's streets.'


















In court: The 16-year-old charged made no plea and no declaration when he appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court and was remanded in custody.

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.