Decorated war veteran's life 'destroyed' by Iraq abuse probe after wrongful arrest
A decorated war veteran who was wrongfully arrested in the probe into historic allegations of abuse in Iraq has told ITV News her life has been "destroyed" by the soon-to-be-defunct investigation.
Former captain Rachel Webster was detained and questioned by military police and officers from the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat) after a dawn raid in January 2014.
Miss Webster, who fought for two-and-a-half years to clear her name, announced in December she was suing the Ministry of Defence over the arrest that saw her whisked from her home in London to Portsmouth for questioning.
"I will never ever forget that knock on my door," she said. "I will never forget that journey down to Portsmouth. I will never forget having to hide the fact that I'd been arrested (from) my parents for six months."
The Ministry of Defence has already paid damages over the wrongful arrest to Miss Webster, who was awarded a commander's commendation for "exceptionally valuable service" in Kosovo and served with distinction in Iraq.
Her latest legal action challenges the right of Ihat investigators to have raided her home. She said her request to see an arrest warrant was refused.
Miss Webster said Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon's confirmation that the multi-million pound Government probe will close in the summer was "too little too late" as the MoD had "known for a long time" the allegations at the centre of many cases were discredited.
Sir Michael confirmed Ihat's disbandment after a scathing report by MPs branded the £34 million inquiry an "unmitigated failure".
Miss Webster said her arrest had "ruined" her life, personal relationships and friendships and had a "massive effect on everything that I have done".
"I hadn't done anything," she said. "I was humiliated and I will never ever forget it and neither will any other soldier or veteran that has had this done to (them) as well. It has ruined lives. It has destroyed me, literally destroyed me."
Miss Webster's lawyer, David Taylor, told ITV News the investigation against her "should never have happened".
"Rachel has clearly been affected by these proceedings which ... lasted two-and-a-half years since her arrest before she was told she wouldn't be prosecuted for war crimes," he said.
"This is a woman of 24 years' outstanding military service and to be treated in that way without any supervision, anybody saying 'this is wrong', clearly was an aberration.
"It should never have happened. And it happened countless times with the investigations."