THE policy of prosecuting British soldiers for misconduct in Iraq was in doubt last night after three Guardsmen were cleared of killing an Iraqi looter.

The men, who had been accused of ordering the 15-year-old at gunpoint into a tidal canal where he drowned, walked free after a five-week court martial costing £2.5 million.

A board of seven officers deliberated for just five hours yesterday before reaching the unanimous verdict that cleared the men of the elite Irish Guards and the Coldstream Guards.

The officers refused to accept the evidence of another looter who was the only witness to the drowning of Ahmed Jabar Karheem on May 8, 2003 in six feet of water in the Shatt al-Basra canal.

The acquittals call into question the future of Britain’s court martial system for dealing with serviceman accused of committing abuses while on duty.

Lord Goldsmith, QC, the Attorney General, will call today for a full debriefing from the prosecuting counsel to identify if any lessons need to be learnt for the three further alleged abuse cases still pending.

The acquittals at the Colchester court martial followed the collapse of the trial last November of seven paratroopers accused of murdering an Iraqi civilian. That case cost about £5 million.

The judge then delivered withering criticism of the military investigation and the unreliability of the witnesses who were brought over at taxpayers’ expense to give evidence.

In the latest case, Guardsman Joseph McCleary, 24, and Guardsman Martin McGing, 22, both of the Irish Guards, and Colour Sergeant Carle Selman, 39, of the Coldstream Guards, were all acquitted of manslaughter.

A fourth soldier, Lance Corporal James Cooke, 22, was acquitted of manslaughter last month after directions from Judge Advocate General Michael Hunter, after two days of legal argument.

Government legal sources said that the Attorney-General would want to know whether the acquittals had any potential implications for other cases.

The most controversial pending case, involving five members of The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment and two from the Intelligence Corps, all charged in connection with the death of Baha Musa, a hotel receptionist in Basra, is due to start in September.

Ministry of Defence sources insisted last night that the court martial system had worked effectively in the latest trial, and said that the judge had not made any criticisms of the prosecution’s case.

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