Ex-Army Doctor Struck Off Over Iraqi's Death

Former Army doctor Derek Keilloh has been found guilty of misconduct over the death of an Iraqi detainee in British military custody.

The verdict on Dr Derek Keilloh, 38, came after a 47-day hearing by the Medical Practioners Tribunal Service, described as a watershed case in military history.

Dr Keilloh, now a family doctor in North Yorkshire, was a captain and regimental medical officer with the British army, 1st Battalion, Queen's Lancashire Regiment, in war-torn Basra in 2003.

He had claimed that after being called in to examine Baha Mousa he had noticed only dried blood around the arrested man's nose.

Mr Mousa had been hooded, handcuffed and beaten by soldiers. He had suffered 93 separate injuries, including a broken nose, broken ribs and severe bruising to his face and neck.

In subsequent inquiries, Dr Keilloh stuck by his story under oath. But the 'fitness to practise' hearing found his conduct dishonest and misleading.

Mr Mousa was an innocent hotel receptionist and a father of two who had been arrested as a suspected insurgent. His wife had died of cancer some months earlier and his death left the couple's children orphaned.

The medical panel said that Dr Keilloh had been "a relatively inexperienced doctor unexpectedly thrust into a war zone at very short notice to supply the highest levels of clinical care with little support or supervision".

They said that his handover on arrival had been "ineffective and contained no written brief of procedures".

But it added: "Given the national and international importance of these investigations and the need to uncover the truth...your repeated dishonesty was wholly unacceptable."

It concluded that "given the gravity and nature of the extent and context of your dishonesty, it considers that your (Dr Keilloh's) misconduct is fundamentally incompatible" with continuing to practise as a doctor.