LONDON (Reuters) - Seven soldiers were acquitted on Thursday of charges of beating an innocent Iraqi teenager to death with rifle butts.

The body of Nadhem Abdullah has never been produced … yet 7 paratoopers were put on trial for his murder at a cost to the British tax payer of £10m. Judge Blackett was moved to comment that

"it has become clear to everyone involved as the trial has progressed that the main Iraqi witnesses had colluded to exaggerate & lie about the incident."

One witness at the court martial, Samira Rishek, a Marsh-Arab who had claimed to have been brutally beaten by the soldiers while she was pregnant, admitted to the court it was a "wicked lie". The court heard that Mrs Rishek, along with other witnesses, was paid $100 a day to give evidence at the trial and that she only agreed to give evidence after being told she would be paid.

Echoes of the trial of Trooper Kevin Williams?? - charged with murdering an Iraqi civilian yet when it came to trial, the prosecution offered no evidence. Funny how we can always find the money to persecute our magnificent armed forces yet we cant find enough money to buy them armoured Landrovers … or come to that, enough body armour to go around.

The next time Bomber Blair phones up saying "lets have a war" - wouldnt it be nice if the Chief of the Defence Staff told him to "sod 'orf" in that clipped tone that they teach you at Staff College - well either that or reminding the PM that regime change starts at home - or at least it will if the utter communist, tax & waste Brown has anything to do with it