Army medic admits torturing Iraqi boy, 14 and watching him be 'hooded'

A junior Army medic has admitted kicking and punching a 14-year-old Iraqi boy, then watching as colleagues 'hooded' him with a sandbag.

The Lance-Corporal told how the teenager was bound and kicked before being left in stifling heat inside a Warrior armoured vehicle for more than an hour without water.

According to the admissions - in statements to the Royal Military Police - the boy, who survived the ordeal, was kicked and punched each time he asked for water.

The medic, in his early 20s and from the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, was commended for his bravery after an operation in Iraq, and once served alongside Victoria Cross hero Johnson Beharry.

His confession has reignited a row over the alleged abuse of prisoners of war by British troops. Sources say RMP officers are investigating whether other soldiers cleared of wrongdoing in the same incident lied.

The alleged abuses came in the aftermath of a bloody firefight in Iraq in 2004 which led to the deaths of at least 20 Iraqi civilians. The so-called Battle of Danny Boy has led to allegations that soldiers covered up the alleged torture and execution of civilians.

The revelation that a boy was the victim of alleged brutality will raise fresh concerns about why the 'hooding' of prisoners of war - a practice banned by former Prime Minister Edward Heath more than 30 years ago - was still taking place in Iraq.

The row comes as the Army braces itself for a public inquiry by a judge into the death in custody of Iraqi hotel worker Baha Mousa, who was arrested with nine other Iraqis after a raid in Basra. A postmortem examination revealed he had suffered asphyxiation and 93 injuries to his body.

An MoD spokesman said: 'This is the subject of an ongoing investigation which means it is inappropriate for us to comment.'