Officer admits responsibility for Iraqi's death

But Colonel Jorge Mendonca said he knew nothing about other incidents where prisoners were allegedly abused by his men in Basra, southern Iraq, in 2003.

And he argued certain "conditioning" methods used by his soldiers on Iraqi detainees – such as hooding and sleep deprivation – were humane despite their being banned by the UK Government in 1972.

Col Mendonca told a public inquiry the death of hotel receptionist Baha Mousa was a "one-off" and insisted that he left Basra a better place.

He said: "I am completely aware, as we all are, of the tragic circumstances...but up until that point there was no failure of the system."

Father-of-two Mr Mousa, 26, died after 36 hours in the custody of 1st Battalion the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (1QLR) in Basra on September 15, 2003, having suffered 93 separate injuries.

Col Mendonca, former commanding officer of 1QLR, became the most senior British officer to face a court martial in recent history when he was charged with negligently performing a duty in relation to the abuse.

He was cleared in February 2007 and left the Army seven months later, saying he believed he had been "hung out to dry" and made to feel like a "common criminal" by his commanders.

Asked whether he was ultimately accountable for Mr Mousa's death, he said: "As the commanding officer of that unit, yes, I do accept that responsibility."

But he added: "I don't think I could have done better on that tour, I don't think I could have worked harder or thought more carefully about the priorities which presented themselves to me as being the ones which mattered at the time."

Col Mendonca defended the use of hooding and conditioning on Iraqi detainees, saying he did not think they were inhumane and believed they had been sanctioned higher up the chain of command.

However, he said he would have stopped his men from making suspects stand in painful "stress positions" if he had known this was happening.

The inquiry heard there were a number of other occasions where members of 1QLR allegedly assaulted or abused Iraqi detainees, including:

n British troops being told to hit prisoners being transported in the back of armoured vehicles if they tried to talk;

n A 12-year-old boy being kicked in the head for throwing a stone at British soldiers;

n An officer telling junior soldiers to beat up detainees;

n An Iraqi prisoner being left with a broken wrist and concussion after being assaulted by British troops.

Col Mendonca told the inquiry he was not informed about any of these incidents.

The inquiry has heard that 11 soldiers from 1QLR had admitted assaulting Mr Mousa, but only one had been convicted in connection with the episode.

Cpl Donald Payne was dismissed from the Army and sentenced to one year in a civilian jail after pleading guilty to the war crime of inhumane treatment in September 2006.

The other six soldiers who faced the court martial, including Col Mendonca, were cleared on all counts in 2007.

The inquiry continues.