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, explained that 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 into Afghanistan with reviewing earlier probes by the RMP into murder allegations against the SAS.
He told the inquiry that the investigations had been hindered by “indecision and apathy” from senior officers, as well as a lack of cooperation from UK Special Forces command.
The inquiry is investigating whether there is credible evidence that the SAS murdered numerous unarmed people and civilians during night raids in the Afghan conflict.
The inquiry was set up after a BBC Panorama investigation linked one SAS squadron to 54 suspicious deaths during 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 larger investigation that included 11 separate special forces raids which were associated with murder allegations.
He described Operation Northmoor as a “complicated, serious, and difficult” investigation, saying: “It was a murder investigation, as serious as you can get.”
Operation Northmoor, which began in 2014 and ultimately cost £10m, was closed in 2019 without any charges being brought. The operation has faced criticism for its apparent failure to interview key witnesses or secure evidence related to allegations of extra-judicial killings.
Mr Pughsley stated 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 significant lines of inquiry outstanding, including a “large number of potential witnesses and forensic evidence.”
Investigators for Operation Northmoor have previously told reports that they were blocked by senior military figures from interviewing special forces officers or accessing forensic evidence.
Documents presented in court on Monday revealed that Captain Jason Wright, the lead investigator in the early years of Northmoor, repeatedly expressed frustration at decisions made by his superiors, including Provost Marshal (Army) Brigadier David Neal and Gold Commander John Harvey, It to pursue UK Special Forces for witness interviews or to seize evidence.
A particular point of contention was the obstruction by UK Special Forces in the RMP’s attempt to obtain a server containing all of the SAS’s operational paperwork. Investigators later discovered that while they were trying to obtain the server, a UK Special Forces contractor permanently deleted files from it.
Mr Pughsley stated 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 sufficient experience to lead such a complex murder inquiry. He added that the large-scale investigation would have been a “big ask” even for a vastly experienced police SIO.
Despite this, Capt Wright made significant and prudent efforts to obtain evidence and advance the investigation, efforts that were repeatedly stymied by senior officers, according to Mr Pughsley.
The former chief constable particularly criticised the actions of Brigadier Neal, who led the closure of Operation Northmoor. Mr Pughsley expressed surprise that Brigadier Neal appeared not to have kept a policy file or logbook detailing his decisions or provided proper resources for the investigation.
Mr Pughsley also questioned an order from Brigadier Neal instructing the team not to use a £7.58m data handling system purchased by the RMP at Capt Wright’s request, an order for which no rationale was provided, he said.
Tessa Gregory, a partner at Leigh Day, the law firm representing the bereaved Afghan families, said that Mr 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 determine how this complex, multi-homicide military police investigation went so badly wrong.”
