Military police prevented from following evidence in SAS murder probe, inquiry hears
Military police investigator tells an inquiry that the probe into suspected murders was "dictated" from above.
A military police investigator has criticised senior officers for preventing his team from following evidence in a murder probe into alleged SAS executions, according to a public inquiry. Delme Williams, who investigated allegations against one SAS unit, testified that he was told his team's investigations were being dictated from above.
He claimed the senior Royal Military Police officer in charge may have been influenced to close the investigation and that photographs taken at one of the 11 SAS operations investigated should have been examined by a forensics expert. The inquiry, examining allegations that SAS committed murders in Afghanistan covered up, heard from those involved in military police investigations for the first time.
Williams recounted an occasion where photos of the Nad Ali district shooting were dismissed by the Gold commander, and the investigator felt the evidence should be examined due to the bullet marks appearing to contradict the SAS's account. BBC Panorama investigations corroborated the RMP's suspicions, showing the bullet marks were low to the ground, suggesting the victims were unarmed civilians.
Despite the Ministry of Defence stating no prosecutions resulted from the independent investigations, Williams testified he still believed individuals should have been referred for prosecution based on the evidence. The inquiry also revealed the former head of the British Army asked the RMP to cut staff working on the murder probe to 25 in 2016, despite the team's efforts to gather evidence.
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