Two civilians jailed in rare trial by military court

Two civilian workers have been jailed by a British military court for a vicious attack on a colleague in Iraq, after a unique trial.

One of the attackers was armed with an industrial knife and the other with a metal baton, the hearing was told. It is thought to be one of the first cases where non-military personnel have been tried by a UK court martial.

Sean McMahon, 42, and James Kelly, 23, both from Glasgow, left fellow Scot Stephen Paterson with a broken arm, smashed eye socket and slash wounds.

Within hours of the attack in Basra the two workers responsible flew back home to Scotland and it took the military authorities more than a year to track them down. The hearing at Catterick Garrison, North Yorks, was told that McMahon was traced while serving a prison sentence.

The accused were working for a British company in Basra, along with Mr Paterson, an electrician, who tried to intervene when the two rowed with a barman.

Jailing McMahon for six years and Kelly for two, Vice Judge Advocate General Michael Hunter told them: "This was a very serious attack, during which you both carried weapons, intending to cause grievous bodily harm."

He said it was clear that they had been sent to an operational theatre without military training and had been subjected to a "tremendous degree of stress".

It is expected that both men will serve part of their sentence in Colchester Military Prison before being transferred to a civilian jail.