Marines dismissed for attack on Afghan prisoner

Two Royal Marines have been dismissed from the forces after being found guilty of assaulting a suspected Taliban bomber in Afghanistan.

Captain Jody Wheelhouse and Sergeant Mark Leader attacked Mohammad Ekhlas with a Wellington boot after he was arrested for allegedly planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Sgt Leader, based at the Commando Training Centre in Lympstone, Devon, was found guilty by a court martial panel of assault causing actual bodily harm in March last year.

Cpt Wheelhouse, from 45 Commando, Arbroath, Scotland, admitted the same offence at an earlier hearing. Mr Ekhlas, who was arrested at Sangin, in Helmand, was later brought into the custody of Afghan authorities and subsequently released. Cpt Wheelhouse was sentenced to dismissal with disgrace, while Sgt Leader was dismissed.

Judge Michael Hunter said: "Acts such as this against an unarmed man undermine the standards of our armed forces."