Closure of SAS investigation was premature, inquiry told

The closure of a military police investigation into suspected war crimes by the SAS was "inappropriate and premature", a former Kent Police chief constable told a public inquiry on Monday.

Alan Pughsley, an experienced major crimes investigator, said the Royal Military Police (RMP) had missed its "one chance" to interview key witnesses and capture vital digital evidence.

Mr Pughsley was tasked by the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan with reviewing earlier probes by the RMP into murder allegations against the SAS.

He told the inquiry the investigations had been hampered by "indecision and apathy" from senior officers, as well as a lack of cooperation from UK Special Forces command.

The inquiry is examining whether there is credible evidence that the SAS murdered scores of unarmed people and civilians on night raids during the Afghan conflict.

It was established following reporting by BBC Panorama that linked one SAS squadron to 54 suspicious deaths on just one six month tour of Afghanistan.

Mr Pughsley reviewed two Royal Military Police investigations – Operation Cestro, which focused on a single night raid, and Operation Northmoor, a much larger investigation that included 11 separate special forces raids which had drawn murder allegations.

He told the inquiry Operation Northmoor was a "complicated, serious, and difficult" investigation, adding: "It was a murder investigation, as serious as you can get."

Operation Northmoor, which began in 2014 and eventually cost £10m, was shut down in 2019 with no charges being brought. It has faced criticism in the years since over an apparent failure to interview key witnesses or secure evidence relating to the allegations of extra-judicial killings.

• Minister raised concerns over closure of SAS probe
• BBC report on SAS killings 'accurate', MoD concluded
• Special Forces at centre of Afghanistan war crimes inquiry

Mr Pughsley told the court on Monday that the experience level of the Northmoor investigators and the resources at their disposal were "very poor and not in line with the national requirements".

He said he would not have closed the investigation given that there were still major lines of inquiry outstanding, including a "large number of potential witnesses and forensic evidence".

Operation Northmoor investigators have previously told the BBC they were blocked by senior military figures from interviewing special forces officers and accessing forensic evidence.

Documents shown in court on Monday showed Captain Jason Wright, the lead investigator in the early years of Northmoor, repeatedly expressed frustration at decisions by his superiors – including Provost Marshal (Army) Brigadier David Neal and Gold Commander John Harvey – not to pursue UK Special Forces for witness interviews or to seize evidence.

There was particular frustration around UK Special Forces obstructing attempts by the RMP to obtain a server which held all of the SAS's operational paperwork. The RMP investigators later discovered that while they were attempting to obtain the server, a UK Special Forces contractor permanently deleted files from it.

Mr Pughsley said that Capt Wright, who had completed his Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) training just a month before he was assigned to Operation Northmoor, did not have enough experience to lead such a complex murder inquiry, adding that the sprawling investigation would have been a "big ask" for even a vastly experienced police SIO.

Capt Wright however made significant and prudent efforts to obtain evidence and progress the investigation – efforts that appeared to have been repeatedly stymied by more senior officers, Mr Pughsley said.

The former chief constable particularly criticised the actions of Brig Neal, who led the closure of Operation Northmoor, stating his surprise that he appeared not to have kept a policy file or logbook explaining his decisions, or resourced the investigation properly.

Mr Pughsley also queried an order from Brig Neal which instructed the team not to use a £7.58m data handling system purchased by the RMP at the request of Capt Wright – the rationale for which was not explained by Brig Neal, he said.

Tessa Gregory, a partner at Leigh Day, the law firm representing the bereaved Afghan families, said My Pughsley's testimony "raised potential failings at almost every stage of the investigation".

A statement continued: "Perhaps most concerningly, he considers that the investigation was closed prematurely and inappropriately with major lines of enquiry still outstanding.

"Plainly the inquiry now needs to take further evidence from those who were involved with both running and overseeing Operation Northmoor to find out how this complex, multi-homicide military police investigation went so badly wrong."