Queen's Lancashire Regiment CO demands apology

The CO of the British regiment accused by the Daily Mirror of alleged prisoner abuse has demanded an apology.

Speaking at a press conference today, Brigadier Geoff Sheldon of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment said that the photos had been proven to be a hoax.

He said that the allegations, which had "unjustly sullied" the reputation of his regiment, had been the result of a "mocked-up fake".

Brig Sheldon described the Daily Mirror's allegations as "utter and complete nonsense".

A former CO of the regiment, Colonel David Black, who joined Brig Sheldon for the press conference at Fulwood Barracks in Preston, said Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan should apologise to the troops who had gone to Iraq to face "incredible danger".

Calling on the readership, the board of directors and the shareholders to "put pressure on", he said it was time that the "ego of one editor was measured against the life of the soldier".

He also described the pictures as a "recruiting poster" for al-Qaeda.

The pictures are currently the subject of an investigation by Royal Military Police.

Trinity Mirror shares appeared largely unaffected by the revelations and the paper has maintained that the pictures are genuine claiming that incontrovertible evidence has not been produced to prove that the pictures are fakes.

This week in a statement to the House, Defence Minister Adam Ingram told MPs that a vehicle which appears in the pictures had not in fact seen service in Iraq.

(SP)