A BURNLEY soldier serving with the Queen's Lancashire Regiment has been charged with assaulting an Iraqi detainee in Basra.

And today his worried mother who lives in Garden Street, Padiham, was trying to contact Sgt Kelvin Stacey after he was named as one of 11 soldiers facing unprecedented court action.

Three other QLR soldiers will face a court martial over allegations of war crimes in Iraq - the first to be hit with charges under the terms of the International Criminal Court Act 2001 after claims of inhuman treatment of detainees. The allegation again Sgt Stacey is not a war crime charge.

Linda Stacey of Garden Street, Padiham, said she had been trying to phone son Kelvin Stacey, who is at present in Cyprus.

Sergeant Stacey, 28, is alleged to have assaulted a detainee and faces a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm and an alternative charge of common assault.

A tearful Mrs Stacey said she wanted to speak to her son to discuss the charges which were announced by the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith in the House of Lords last night.

The soldier was married at All Saints' Church in Habergham in November 2003 to Lynette Hughes. The couple then lived in Burnley.

Before the wedding Sergeant Stacey lived with his mother at the modest end terrace house in Padiham.

Although charged under the 2001 Act, the QLR troops face proceedings before a military tribunal in the UK, rather than being tried by the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

The ICC's jurisdiction is based on the principle that it can only exercise that jurisdiction when a state is unable or unwilling to investigate or prosecute.

In a written Parliamentary statement issued last night, Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said that the Army Prosecuting Authority decided that in case one seven servicemen should face a court martial.

Colonel Jorge Mendonca, 41, a highly decorated commanding officer with the QLR in Iraq at the time of the incident, who is now part of the Army's General Staff, is charged with negligently performing a duty, contrary to the Army Act 1955.

The case relates to incidents in the southern Iraqi city of Basra between September 13 and 15, 2003.

The accused are alleged to have committed a number of offences against Iraqi detainees who were arrested following a planned operation.

One of the detainees, hotel receptionist Baha Da'oud Salim Mousa, was allegedly inhumanely treated and killed by Corporal Donald Payne, 34.

Corporal Payne has been charged with manslaughter, inhuman treatment of persons - the ICC Act offence - and perverting the course of justice.

Two colleagues - Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 21, and Private Darren Fallon, 22 - also allegedly inhumanely treated internees, who sustained injuries following repeated assaults. They too have been charged under the ICC Act.

Sgt Stacey is alleged to have assaulted a detainee and faces a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm, alternatively common assault while Warrant Officer Mark Davies, 36, and Major Michael Peebles, 34, both of the Intelligence Corps, have been charged with neglecting to perform a duty and negligently performing a duty respectively.

Lord Goldsmith said the Army Prosecuting Authority was satisfied there is "a realistic prospect of convicting all defendants and that the prosecutions are in the public interest."

In a statement on the Baha Mousa case, Defence Secretary Dr John Reid said: "British Armed Forces...do an exceptional job in very difficult circumstances and operate to the very highest standards, as the British public rightly expects.

"This is precisely why, if there are allegations that UK armed forces personnel have failed to maintain these high standards, they should be properly investigated and, if appropriate, prosecutions should be brought.

"Anyone accused is innocent until proved guilty and it is for the courts martial to consider the evidence in any case and reach a verdict."

In a statement today the QLR's Colonel, Brigadier Geoffrey Sheldon said: "From the moment that Mr Musa lost his life...the Regiment has made clear that this was an isolated, tragic incident which should never have happened and which I and every member of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment bitterly regrets."