'I saw forklift abuse' - soldier

All three soldiers deny abusing prisoners with a forklift truck

A British soldier has told a court martial how an Iraqi detainee was tied to a forklift truck and repeatedly driven into a wall by other soldiers.

Pte David Coxon was at the trial of three soldiers accused of abusing Iraqis in Basra in 2003.

He told the court in Germany how around 20 soldiers laughed and jeered as an Iraqi eventually fell from the fork.

But defence lawyers say he invented the story to deflect from his own role in forcing Iraqis to simulate sex acts.

Cpl Daniel Kenyon, 33, and L/Cpl Mark Cooley, 25, both of Newcastle upon Tyne, deny all the charges they face.

L/Cpl Darren Larkin, 30, of Oldham, Greater Manchester, admits one charge of assaulting a prisoner but denies another charge.

You knew that if you mentioned being present at the sex show [to the military police] you were in big trouble Stephen Vullo Defence counsel

The soldiers are all from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

Pte Coxon, who held the rank of Lance Corporal at the time of the incidents, claimed he knew abuse was happening.

He said he was woken up by the sound of a forklift truck and went out to see what was happening.

"I knew they were being beaten up and things like that, and I didn't want anything to do with it, so I walked away," he told the court.

Pte Coxon, who went absent without leave for almost a year following the incidents, described the scene as "like watching a football match".

He said he went straight back to bed.

'Big trouble'

But lawyers for the three soldiers say Pte Coxon was "deeply involved" in a later incident where Iraqis were forced to simulate sex acts.

Stephen Vullo, for L/Cpl Cooley who was pictured driving a forklift with an Iraqi tied to the fork, argued the whole story was false.

Cpl Kenyon, centre, and L/Cpl Cooley, right, deny the charges

He said Pte Coxon and two other soldiers concocted it to deflect attention from the "sex show".

"You knew that if you mentioned being present at the sex show [to the military police] you were in big trouble," said Mr Vullo.

Pte Coxon denies being present while Iraqis were forced to simulate sex.

Evidence of the alleged abuse came to light when a set of photographs was left for processing at a shop in Tamworth, Staffordshire.

A film developer called police because she was "disturbed by the content".

The soldiers are being tried before Judge Advocate Michael Hunter and a panel of British officers in Osnabrueck, Germany, where their regiment is based.

The case continues.