Mothers in appeal to PM over legal claims

Members of the armed forces are being “thrown to the wolves”, the bereaved women said, describing the lawsuits as “outrageous” and “ridiculous”.

In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister and published in The Sun newspaper, they called for a halt to what they said was an “immoral witch hunt”.

It emerged earlier this month that Iraq War veterans could face prosecution for crimes including murder, as Britain’s six-year military mission there is probed.

The Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat), a Government-established criminal investigation into murder, abuse and torture claims, had a workload of 1,515 possible victims by September, of whom 280 are alleged to have been unlawfully killed.

Caroline Whitaker, of Skipton, along with Carol Valentine, Helen Perry and Hazel Hunt all lost their sons - aged between 21 and 29 - during the conflict in Afghanistan.

In the letter, they say: “The lawyers are trying to use Human Rights loopholes to persecute our own soldiers, but where are the human rights of our troops? We believe it is your job, Prime Minister, to defend their honour and protect them by ceasing these vicious legal actions.”

They claim lawsuits now could affect troops on the front line who have to make split-second decisions, and described morale in what they said was once the “finest military organisation in the world” as being at an all-time low.

They said they would go so far as to say their sons may have died in vain. Ms Whitaker’s son Sergeant Gareth Thursby, of Skipton, died in 2012 after being shot by a rogue Afghan policeman in Helmand Province alongside his 18-year-old comrade Thomas Wroe, of Huddersfield.